Earnings roundup: ITT Educational Services, Bayer AG

Among the earnings stories for Thursday, April 24, from AP Financial News:

NEW YORK (AP) _ Shares of ITT Educational Services Inc., a for-profit technical education provider, soared Thursday after its first-quarter earnings flew past Wall Street's expectations.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) _ Drugmaker Bayer AG said Thursday that its first-quarter net profit slid nearly 73 percent from figures last year that were boosted by one-time gains.

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) _ Biotechnology company Elan Corp. PLC reported stronger first-quarter revenue and a narrower loss Thursday due to surging sales of its main product, the multiple sclerosis-fighting drug Tysabri.

DALLAS (AP) _ Information technology services company Electronic Data Systems Corp. said Thursday its first-quarter profit was less than half what it was a year ago when it recorded a huge contract termination payment from Verizon.

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) _ Ford Motor Co.'s latest buyout and early retirement offers were accepted by 4,200 hourly workers, or just over half the total the company was said to be aiming for _ raising the possibility of layoffs.

ANDOVER, Mass. (AP) _ MKS Instruments Inc.'s first-quarter earnings declined, but the adjusted result beat expectations on higher demand from the solar and flat-panel sectors, the maker of monitoring equipment for manufacturing processes said Thursday.

NEW YORK (AP) _ Shares of Stamps.com Inc. jumped Thursday after the online postage retailer reported its first-quarter profit climbed on higher subscription revenue and a $3.7 million tax gain.