Company News for October 21, 2009

• Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY - Analyst Report) reported third quarter earnings of $1.20 a share, 18 cents ahead of Zacks estimates, on third quarter revenues of $5.56 billion.  The company said, "Our performance in the third quarter once again was driven by volume-based sales growth, improving gross margins and tight control of operating expenses, allowing us to deliver very attractive earnings growth"

• Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO - Analyst Report) results beat Zacks estimates of 7 cents, coming in at 13 cents, as the company’s operations benefitted from cost-cutting measures; revenues held steady with last quarter's at $1.13 billion.  According to CFO Morse, "There's a change occurring in Yahoo, that will value that kind of work - that good old-fashioned, get-your-hands-dirty kind of find ways to take costs down or make sure that they don't go up as much as they otherwise would have - type work"

• SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK - Analyst Report) results also beat projections on earnings of 75 cents, well ahead of the Zacks estimates of 14 cents, on revenues of $935 million, which topped $783 million expected. The company CEO and Chairman Eli Harari noted, "Our outstanding Q3 results reflect major gains in our OEM business with strong orders continuing into Q4. We are encouraged by improved industry fundamentals and our increasingly diversified global markets, which bode well for further growth in Q4 and in 2010"

• US Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Analyst Report) reported fourth quarter earnings of 49 cents ex-items beating estimates of 26 cents on record revenues of $4.3 billion, which topped estimates of $4.13 billion