Magazine content is available exclusively for TIME subscribers.STATE OF BUSINESS: Earnings: Best Ever?
As the stream of earnings reports reached flood stage last week, it appeared that 1955's first quarter was the best ever for many U.S. corporations. The combined first-quarter earnings of 484 corporations was 27.2% higher than for the same period a year ago, dividend payments to stockholders were up 6%, and only 17 companies failed to show a profit.
Even in corporations where profits were down because the upswing in business was not yet reflected in earnings, officials were optimistic. Westinghouse Electric's first-quarter earnings fell from $26,286,000 for the first quarter of 1954 to $12,782,000 this year; Pullman Inc. earned only...
Email, Password or Region is incorrect
A required form parameter was missing.
The System is currently down. Please try again in a few minutes.
Email Address is invalid
Password is blank
Most Popular »
- Your Turn, Canada: A Second-By-Second Look at Jeremy Lin Lighting Up Toronto
- Iowa Welcomes Back China's Next President
- What's in Your Lipstick? FDA Finds Lead in 400 Shades
- Linsanity Heads East, Linfects China and Taiwan
- 50 Best iPhone Apps 2012
- Rick Santorum Wants to Fight 'The Dangers Of Contraception'
- Can Jeremy Lin End The MSG/Time Warner Cable War?
- Love Ever After: A Valentine’s Day Special
- After Whitney Houston, Musicians Say: I'm Afraid
- Why Obama's Re-Election Fortunes Are Suddenly Looking Up
- Iowa Welcomes Back China's Next President
- Harvard's Hoops Star Is Asian. Why's That a Problem?
- With Syria's Rebels: A Visit to a Bombmaker's Factory
- Study: Lead Poisoning Could Lurk in Spices
- Friends With Benefits
- Beirut: Where Valentine's Day Belongs to Another Kind of Saint
- The Upside Of Being An Introvert (And Why Extroverts Are Overrated)
- Europe's Deep Freeze: Why Climate Change Is Not (Entirely) to Blame
- Los Angeles: 10 Things to Do
- Children of the New India: How Economic Reforms Impacted Upon the Young
More News from Our Partners
Top Stories on TIME.com
Quotes of the Day »
