[naviga:h3]Ford 1Q better than expected[/naviga:h3]

Ford earnings fell in the first quarter, but the automaker’s shares rallied in extended trading as Ford said a restructuring is starting to take hold.

The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker said Thursday that sales of pickups and sport utilities sparked an improved performance in North America and cost-cutting allowed its European business to swing to a profit.

Net income for the first three months of the year fell 34 percent to $1.15 billion, weighed down by charges totaling nearly $600 million. Adjusted profit totaled 44 cents per share. Revenue fell to $40.34 billion from $41.96 billion a year earlier.

On average, analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings per share of 27 cents on revenue of $40.3 billion.

Ford shares jumped 9 percent in after-hours trading.

Ford said its operating profit rose by $300 million to $2.4 billion, mostly due to the better results in North America. In a news release, Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said that first quarter figure will likely be the strongest of the year, but the results put Ford “on track to deliver better company results in 2019 than last year.”

[naviga:h3]Cloud computing boosts Amazon[/naviga:h3]

NEW YORK — Amazon’s push into advertising and cloud computing is paying off, helping the online shopping giant’s first quarter profit more than double from a year ago.

The Seattle-based company on Thursday reported net income of $3.56 billion, or $7.09 per share, for the first three months of the year.

That beat expectations of $4.61 per share, according to Zacks Investment Research. In the same time a year ago, it reported net income of $1.63 billion, or $3.27 per share.

Revenue rose 17 percent to $59.7 billion, which also beat Wall Street expectations.

At its cloud computing business, called Amazon Web Services, revenue soared 41 percent.

The company doesn’t say exactly how much its advertising business makes. Instead it lists it as part of its “other” revenue, which jumped 34 percent from a year ago.

For the current quarter ending in July, Amazon said it expects revenue in the range of $59.5 billion to $63.5 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $62.53 billion.

Shares of Amazon.com, which are up 27 percent so far this year, rose 1.6 percent to $1,933 in after-hours trading Thursday.

Starbucks raises 2019 profit outlook

SEATTLE — Starbucks is raising its profit outlook for 2019 after better-than-expected results in its most recent quarter.

The Seattle-based coffee company said Thursday it earned $663.2 million, or 53 cents per share, in its fiscal second quarter, up slightly from the January-March period a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, such as the sale of its Tazo tea brand, Starbucks earned 60 cents per share. That beat Wall Street’s estimate of 56 cents, according to a survey of 13 analysts by Zacks Investment Research.

By Associated Press