SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Thursday’s session are BlackBerry Ltd., Oracle Corp., and Kroger Co.
BlackBerry          US:BBRY                 BB,         +1.40%        is projected to report a loss of 27 cents a share in the first quarter, according to a consensus survey by FactSet. The Canadian smartphone company on Wednesday announced a partnership with Amazon.com Inc.          AMZN,         -0.82%        to access Amazon’s Appstore to provide more games, apps and music to BlackBerry users.  
Oracle          ORCL,         -0.20%        is forecast to post fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 95 cents a share. Analysts at Wedbush reiterated the stock’s neutral rating and target price of $40 on Wednesday. “At current levels,we see ORCL as fairly valued, with upside and downside risks roughly balanced,” analyst Steve Koenig said in his report.
Kroger          KR,         +1.23%        is expected to report first-quarter earnings of $1.05 a share. 
Rite-Aid Corp.          RAD,         -1.07%        is likely to report first-quarter earnings of 4 cents a share. 
Smith & Wesson Holding Corp.          US:SWHC        is projected to post earnings of 39 cents a share in the fourth quarter. 
Pier 1 Imports Inc.          US:PIR        is likely to post earnings of 20 cents a share in the fourth quarter.
After Wednesday’s closing bell, Jabil Circuit Inc.          JBL,         +2.13%        reported third-quarter earnings rose to $188.3 million, or 93 cents a share, from $50.1 million, or 24 cents a share, a year ago. On an adjusted basis, Jabil earned 6 cents a share, beating analysts’ average estimate of 9 cents a share loss. Jabil shares came off of earlier highs to trade up 1.6%. Shares of Jabil rose 1.5% in after-hours trading.
Red Hat Inc.          US:RHT        shares gained 3.6% in after hours after the software company reported first-quarter earnings of $37.8 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with $40.4 million, or 21 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding charges, it earned 34 cents a share, slightly ahead of analysts’ forecast of 33 cents a share.
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