Market Update: CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS), Toyota (NYSE: TM), Moodys (NYSE: MCO)

CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) posted a bigger-than-expected jump in quarterly profit on Thursday as consumers filled more prescriptions. CVS earned $1.02 billion, or 71 cents per share, up from $732.5 million, or 50 cents per share, a year earlier. Adjusted third-quarter earnings from continuing operations were 65 cents per share, while analysts’ average forecast was 64 cents. CVS said it now expects 2009 adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of $2.61 to $2.64, versus a prior forecast of $2.59 to $2.64. Analysts expect $2.62. -Reuters

Toyota (NYSE: TM) surprise quarterly profit and halving of its annual loss forecast failed to convince investors the world’s No.1 carmaker is back on track, as government subsidies peter out and a strong yen takes its toll. Toyota narrowed its annual net loss forecast to 200 billion yen from 450 billion yen, as it lifted its group-based global vehicle sales forecast by 6.5 percent to 7.03 million units. For the July-September quarter, the maker of the Prius hybrid car reported an operating profit of 58.0 billion yen, down 66 percent from a year earlier but beating an average estimate of a loss of 63 billion yen from five analysts. –Daily Finance

The global speculative-grade default rate rose to 12.4 percent in October, the highest proportion of defaults since the Great Depression, according to Moodys (NYSE: MCO). The annual rate at which companies worldwide fail to meet their commitments may peak at 12.5 percent next month, Moody’s said in a report today. The New York-based firm revised its September figure to 12.3 percent, also higher than the 12.2 percent rate reached in 1991. The total number of defaults declined to eight in October, the lowest monthly count this year and down from 19 in September, Moody’s said. “The global default rate is now likely near its cyclical peak, as indicated by a rapidly slowing pace of defaults in recent months,” said Kenneth Emery, the director of corporate default research at Moody’s. –Bloomberg

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits declined more than economists expected last week, the U.S. Labor Department said in its weekly report Thursday. Total claims lasting more than one week, meanwhile, also decreased. Separately, U.S. productivity grew during the third quarter by the most in six years as the economy recovered from severe recession and employers kept firing workers to save money. Initial claims for jobless benefits decreased by 20,000 to 512,000 in the week ended Oct. 31. That is the lowest level since Jan. 3. –The Wall Street Journal

-Jutia Group