Earnings roundup: Delta, Northwest

Among the earnings stories for Wednesday, April 23, from AP Financial News:

Top stories:

ATLANTA (AP) _ Delta Air Lines Inc., the nation's third-largest carrier, said Wednesday its loss widened in the first quarter to a whopping $6.39 billion because of soaring fuel prices and the steep decline in the company's market value.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ Northwest Airlines said its first-quarter loss deepened to $4.14 billion, mostly because of a big accounting charge, but high fuel prices still caused an operating loss.

Other stories:

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) _ Cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc., spun off last month by longtime owner Altria Group Inc., reported Wednesday a 29.2 percent rise in profit for the first quarter, beating estimates, and raised its outlook for the year.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Yahoo Inc.'s first-quarter performance was a little like Goldilocks' favorite soup _ not too hot and not too cold, and that has set the table for a bitter battle over Microsoft Corp.'s bid to take over the Internet pioneer.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. (AP) _ Infinera Corp. swung to a first-quarter profit but gave an outlook for lower profit in the current period, the provider of digital optical communications systems said late Tuesday.

PITTSBURGH (AP) _ Natural-gas producer CNX Gas Corp. on Wednesday said its first-quarter profit spiked 51 percent as it benefited from higher natural-gas prices and increased production.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) _ Biotech company Genzyme Corp. said Wednesday its first-quarter earnings slipped 8 percent as an investment charge offset strong sales growth, and revised its full-year outlook to reflect delayed approval of the biotech company's Myozyme drug.