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One day after Yahoo Inc. reported a 15% increase in quarterly revenue – its best sales improvement in nearly nine years – the company said it has promoted Lisa Utzschneider to chief revenue officer. Utzschneider joined Yahoo last year as senior vice president of sales for the Americas region, Yahoo’s largest geographic market. Yahoo said she has been “pivotal is structuring the sales teams” across the Americas for growth. Prior to Yahoo, she served for 15 years in leading sales, strategy, and revenue roles within the digital advertising space, including running ad sales for a range of Amazon.com Inc. websites. Yahoo reported GAAP revenue of $992.2 million in the Americas last quarter, up more than 23% year-over-year. Its shares were up 0.3% in premarket trade, putting them on track to open around $39.37.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits declined by 26,000 to 255,000 in the seven days ended July 18, the Labor Department said Thursday. This is the lowest level since November 1973 and a sign that the labor market is strong enough to keep the unemployment rate falling. Initial claims data is often volatile in July as auto plants close for retooling. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast initial claims to rose to 282,000 from 281,000 but many said they expected a volatile report. The average of new claims over the past month, meanwhile, edged down by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 282,500. The four-week average smooths out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly report and is seen as a more accurate predictor of labor-market trends. Continuing jobless claims declined by 9,000 to 2.2 million in the week ended July 11. These claims reflect people already receiving unemployment checks.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits declined by 26,000 to 255,000 in the seven days ended July 18, the Labor Department said Thursday. This is the lowest level since November 1973 and a sign that the labor market is strong enough to keep the unemployment rate falling. Initial claims data is often volatile in July as auto plants close for retooling. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast initial claims to rose to 282,000 from 281,000 but many said they expected a volatile report. The average of new claims over the past month, meanwhile, edged down by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 282,500. The four-week average smooths out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly report and is seen as a more accurate predictor of labor-market trends. Continuing jobless claims declined by 9,000 to 2.2 million in the week ended July 11. These claims reflect people already receiving unemployment checks.

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Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. beat second-quarter earnings expectations Thursday. The company reported a net income of $220 million, or $1.14 per share, above $210 million, or $1.06 in the year-earlier period. Dr. Pepper reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.13, above the FactSet consensus of $1.10. Sales were $1.66 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.64 billion. The company raised its full year guidance for core earnings per share to $3.85 to $3.93. Shares of Dr. Pepper Snapple have fallen less than 1% in the past three months and gained 10% year-to-date.

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Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. beat second-quarter earnings expectations Thursday. The company reported a net income of $220 million, or $1.14 per share, above $210 million, or $1.06 in the year-earlier period. Dr. Pepper reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.13, above the FactSet consensus of $1.10. Sales were $1.66 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.64 billion. The company raised its full year guidance for core earnings per share to $3.85 to $3.93. Shares of Dr. Pepper Snapple have fallen less than 1% in the past three months and gained 10% year-to-date.

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McDonald’s Corp.’s stock dropped 1.1% in premarket trade Thursday, after the fast-food giant reported second-quarter same-store sales that missed expectations, reflecting negative guest traffic in all major segments. Earnings for the quarter ended June 30 fell to $1.2 billion, or $1.26 a share, from $1.39 billion, or $1.40 a share, in the same period a year ago. That beat the FactSet earnings-per-share consensus of $1.23. Revenue declined 10% to $6.5 billion, topping the FactSet consensus of $6.43 billion. But global same-store sales declined 0.7%, compared with the FactSet consensus of a 0.6% decline. Same-store sales fell 2% in the U.S., worse than expectations of a 1.5% decline, while Europe’s 1.2% increase fell shy of expectations of a 1.3% rise. “While our second quarter results were disappointing, we are seeing early signs of momentum,” said Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook. “Looking ahead to third quarter, we expect positive global comparable sales led by growth in our newly-created International Lead Market segment and China’s continuing recovery from the 2014 APMEA supplier issue.” The stock has gained 0.6% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 1.2%.

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McDonald’s Corp.’s stock dropped 1.1% in premarket trade Thursday, after the fast-food giant reported second-quarter same-store sales that missed expectations, reflecting negative guest traffic in all major segments. Earnings for the quarter ended June 30 fell to $1.2 billion, or $1.26 a share, from $1.39 billion, or $1.40 a share, in the same period a year ago. That beat the FactSet earnings-per-share consensus of $1.23. Revenue declined 10% to $6.5 billion, topping the FactSet consensus of $6.43 billion. But global same-store sales declined 0.7%, compared with the FactSet consensus of a 0.6% decline. Same-store sales fell 2% in the U.S., worse than expectations of a 1.5% decline, while Europe’s 1.2% increase fell shy of expectations of a 1.3% rise. “While our second quarter results were disappointing, we are seeing early signs of momentum,” said Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook. “Looking ahead to third quarter, we expect positive global comparable sales led by growth in our newly-created International Lead Market segment and China’s continuing recovery from the 2014 APMEA supplier issue.” The stock has gained 0.6% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 1.2%.

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Under Armour reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings on Thursday, as new products and demand for training equipment boosted sales. The company reported adjusted net income of $14.8 million, or 7 cents a share, down compared with a year-earlier profit of $17.7 million, or 8 cents. However, earnings per share topped average analyst estimates by two cents, according to FactSet. Revenue for the sports apparel company climbed 29% year-over-year to $784 million, above the consensus estimate of $762 million, according to FactSet, and the company raised its fiscal 2015 revenue outlook to $3.84 billion from $3.78 billion previously. The full-year growth would represent a more than 25% year-over-year improvement and match current expectations on Wall Street. Shares of Under Armour were up 1.8% in premarket trade.

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Caterpillar Inc.’s stock slumped 2.8% in premarket trade Thursday, after the machinery, engine and mining equipment maker missed second-quarter sales expectations and trimmed its full-year outlook. Earnings fell to $710 million, or $1.16 a share, from $999 million, or $1.57 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring restructuring costs, adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.27, matching the FactSet consensus. Revenue fell 13% to $12.3 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $12.74 billion, with sales of construction equipment falling 18%, energy and transportation declining 12% and resource industries down 11%. For the full year, Caterpillar cut its sales outlook to $49 billion from $50 billion, but affirmed its adjusted EPS outlook of $5. The company said it plans to buy back about $1.5 billion worth of its stock during the third quarter. The stock has lost 13% year to date through Wednesday, compared with a 0.2% gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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3M Co. on Thursday reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, but tightened its full-year outlook to reflect lower-than-expected global economic growth. The company said it had net profit of $1.30 billion, or $2.02 a share, up from $1.27 billion, or $1.91 a share, in the year earlier period. Sales fell to $7.67 billion from $8.1 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $2.00 and sales of $7.83 billion. The manufacturer of everything from post-it notes to electronics and health care systems said it now expects full-year earnings to range from $7.80 to $8.00, compared with prior guidance of $7.80 to $8.10. Organic local-currency sales are expected to grow 2.5% to 4.0%, compared with prior guidance of 3% to 6%. The company is expecting the strong dollar to reduce 2015 sale to 6% to 7%. “We are amending our growth outlook slightly to account for lower-than-expected global economic growth,” Chief Executive Inge Thulin said in a statement. Shares were indicating higher in thin pre-market trade, but are down 5.4% in the year so far, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 0.2%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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