Earnings roundup: NewMarket, Ford

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

Top stories:

NEW YORK (AP) _ Shares of NewMarket Corp., which makes chemical additives for petroleum products, dropped Thursday morning after the company's first-quarter results disappointed investors.

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) _ Ford Motor Co. surprised Wall Street on Thursday with a $100 million profit in the first quarter as strong results from Europe and South America helped offset the impact of a slumping U.S. economy that cut car and truck sales in its main market. Its shares rose almost 6 percent.

Other stories:

NEW YORK (AP) _ Core Laboratories NV, which provides services to the oil and gas industry, said Wednesday profits rose in the first quarter on increased demand for the company's reservoir technologies in North America.

MIAMI (AP) _ AutoNation Inc. reported Thursday that decelerating vehicle sales in California, Florida and other key states beset by sagging home prices dragged its first-quarter earnings down 37 percent, missing Wall Street expectations.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ Tennant Co., which makes floor-cleaning equipment, said Thursday first-quarter results fell 12 percent, falling short of analyst expectations, hurt by weak industrial equipment sales in North America.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) _ Costly materials and weak U.S. demand during what Whirlpool called the toughest economic market in three decades contributed to a nearly 20 percent drop in first-quarter profits, the company said Thursday.

MALVERN, Pa. (AP) _ Ikon Office Solutions Inc., which sells and leases copiers and printers, said Thursday its fiscal second-quarter profit declined due to higher costs, but results beat analysts' expectations.