Visteon Corp. (VC: chart), one of the largest U.S. auto parts makers, on Wednesday reported a $188 million quarterly net loss due to light vehicle production cuts by former parent Ford Motor Co. (F: chart) and rising material costs.

The net loss advanced to $1.49 per share for 1Q vs. a net profit of $20 million, or 16 cents per share, a year earlier.

The direct seller of kitchen storage products Tupperware Corp. (TUP: chart) on Wednesday reported higher quarterly profit because of strong international sales and a smaller loss in North America, and boosted its guidance for the full year.

The Orlando, Florida-based Tupperware earned $23.9 million, or 40 cents per share, in 1Q ended April 2. That compares with earnings of $14.5 million, or 25 cents per share, a year ago.

Analysts were expecting Tupperware to earn 25 cents per share. The company had forecast earnings of 25 cents to 29 cents per share.

The company said it expects a full-year profit in the range of $1.55 to $1.65 per share, 10 cents per share higher than its previous forecast. Analysts, on average, expected earnings of $1.44 per share.

The Washington, D.C.-based XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR: chart) reported a smaller loss for 1Q of the year while the company’s revenues more than doubled. XM also said it still panned to reach 5.5 million subscribers by the end of the year.

Thecompany reported a net loss of $119.9 million, or 58 cents per share, down vs. $170.1 million, or 96 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenues more than doubled to $102.6 million vs. $43 million last year mainly fueled by significant subscriber growth. Analysts were looking for the company to post a loss of 70 cents per share on sales of $101.2 million in the latest period.

XM recorded net subscriber additions of 541,140 for the first quarter, compared with the 321,675 subscribers added in the first quarter 2004, and finished the quarter with 3.77 million subscribers.

The nation's largest health insurer WellPoint Inc. (WLP: chart), after a $16.5 billion merger with smaller competitor Anthem Inc., said Wednesday its 1Q earnings more than doubled. Net income was $611.7 million, or $1.97 per share, vs. $295.6 million, or $2.08 per share, a year earlier. 1Q revenue climbed to $11.1 billion from $4.57 billion last year. Analysts were looking for earnings of $1.83 per share on sales of $11.25 billion in the latest period.

WellPoint also boosted guidance for 2Q and full year, forecasting 2Q earnings of $1.92 per share, up from prior expectations of $1.90 per share. For the full year, earnings are now projected at $7.94 per share, up sharply from earlier estimates of $7.75 per share. Analysts are forecasting profit per share of $1.92 for the second quarter and $7.80 for the full year.

American Italian Pasta Co. (PLB: chart), the country's leading dry pasta maker, on Wednesday said 2Q profits dropped 68% due to high transportation costs and poor sales.

For the quarter ending April 1, the Kansas City-based company reported earnings of $2.38 million, or 13 cents per share, vs. with $7.56 million, or 41 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenues for the quarter slid 11.7% to $100 million. Analysts expected earnings of 19 cents per share on revenues of $98.7 million.

American Italian said annual earnings will likely drop in the second half of the earlier guidance of between 80 cents and $1 per share. Analysts expect annual earnings of 87 cents per share on revenue of $391.4 million.

The Oklahoma City oil and gas producer Kerr-McGee Corp.'s (KMG: chart) quarterly earnings more than doubled on increasing output and soaring oil and natural gas prices. The company posted net income of $354.5 million, or $2.20 per share, in 1Q versus $152.2 million, or $1.41 a share, in the year-earlier period.

Excluding special items, Kerr-McGee earned $2.42 a share. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $2.17 a share.

Revenue in the quarter jumped 55 percent to $1.7 billion while capital expenditure rose to $398.4 million from $169.8 million a year earlier.

ConocoPhillips (COP: chart), the nation's third-largest oil and gas company, said Wednesday that first-quarter earnings surged year-over-year due to high oil prices. Net income advanced to $2.91 billion, or $4.10 per share, vs. $1.62 billion, or $2.33 per share, a year earlier. Total revenue was $38.9 billion, up from $30.2 billion last year. Analysts were looking for the company to post earnings of $3.29 per share in the latest quarter.

The company anticipates full-year daily production, including Canadian Syncrude, to be about 3% higher than in 2004, excluding its partnership with Russian oil company Lukoil.