Going into this morning’s first quarter earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see State Street report earnings of $0.85 per share, but actual earnings came in above estimates at $0.88 per share.

During the same period last year the company had earnings of $0.75.

Revenues during the quarter were $2.36 billion, versus analyst estimates for $2.29 billion.

Assets under management rose 7.7% year over year to $2.1 trillion.

According to the Commerce Department, the economy grew at 3.1% during the fourth quarter, which is higher than analysts had been expecting to see. Going into today’s report analysts had been expecting to see revised GDP output of 3.0%.

Last month the Commerce Department made a preliminary forecast of 2.8% GDP growth during the fourth quarter.

Most analysts agree that GDP has continued to grow in the first quarter, but rising oil prices over the past month will probably prevent us from seeing the same sort of growth that the economy enjoyed during the fourth quarter.

A key ingredient to the current economic recovery is consumer spending. During the final 3 months of 2010 consumer spending rose 4.0%, which is the most it has risen during a 3 month period since the fourth quarter 2006.

In reaction to the news the DOW is currently up 0.3%, the NASDAQ has gained 0.3%, and the S&P is up 0.2%.

Shares of Caterpillar are up 4.5% on the day to $71.91, up $3.13 following better than expected results this morning before the market opened.

Analysts were forecasting $0.39 per share, and the company easily outpaced those estimates with a reported $0.50 per share.

Revenues were a bit shy of analyst estimates, but the stock is surging after it raised its forecast for full year 2010 to $2.50 to $3.25 a share, up from its previous forecast of $2.50 per share.

S&P boosted its price target on the stock to $80 a share, and maintained its Buy rating on the company.

The company noted that the global economy is definitely improving, and as a result construction has been rebounding. This helped pushed the overall market higher today, with the DOW up over 25 points in afternoon trading.

Going into this mornings earnings report, analysts were forecasting $0.15 per share, verses $0.05 during the same period last year.

Actual earnings came in well above estimates, at $0.18 per share excluding special items.

Revenues were up by 33% during the quarter to $4.7 billion. Analysts had forecast revenues of $4.79 billion.

Looking ahead Xerox stated that it expects to earn 20 to 22 cents for its second quarter, above Wall Street estimates of $0.18.

The stock is trading up 10.2% today to $11.52, up $1.07.

• Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) : Following tomorrow’s market close, online auction giant Amazon is going to report its first quarter results. Analysts are forecasting earnings of $0.61 per share, verses $0.41 during the same period last year.
• American Express Co. (AXP) : American Express will report Q1 earnings tomorrow after the market close, and Wall Street analysts are looking to see earnings of $0.63 per share. During the same period last year the company had earnings of $0.32.
• Pepsico (PEP) : Pepsi is going to be reporting Q1 numbers tomorrow. Analysts are expecting to see the company post earnings of $0.75 per share, verses $0.71 during the same period last year. The company will report numbers before the market open.
• Capital One Financial (COF) : Capital One will be reporting its first quarter numbers tomorrow, and analysts are forecasting earnings of $0.57 per share, verses a loss of $0.45 during the same period last year. Capital One will be reporting its earnings before the market opens in the morning.

As we noted in our earnings preview for Apple, analysts had forecast earnings of $2.45 per share, and the company blew past those estimates with a reported $3.33.

Once again the company got a big boost from iPhone sales, with 8.7 million new iPhones sold during the quarter, more than double the amount of iPhones sold last year.

Looking ahead Apple expects to earn $2.28 to $2.39 per share for its current quarter.

Apple stock is up 5.6% on the day to $258.28, up $13.69 and hit a new all time high today at $260.25.

• McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) : McDonald’s is going to be reporting its first quarter numbers tomorrow with analysts forecasting $0.96 per share, verses $0.83 during the same period last year. The company will be reporting its Q1 numbers before the market opens in the morning.
• The Boeing Company (BA) : Boeing is due to report its Q1 results tomorrow, and Wall Street has forecast earnings of $0.64 per share, verse $0.87 during the same period last year. Boeing earnings will be released before the market opens tomorrow.
• Amgen (AMGN) : Amgen will be reporting first quarter numbers tomorrow after the market closes. Analysts have forecast earnings of $1.24 per share, verses $1.08 during the same period last year.
• Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) : Qualcomm is going to be reporting fiscal Q2 earnings tomorrow, and analysts are forecasting $0.57 per share. During the same period last year the company had earnings of $0.41, and will be reporting after the market closes Wednesday.

• Coca Cola (KO) : Coca Cola will be reporting first quarter numbers tomorrow, and analysts have forecast $0.74 per share. During the same period last year Coca Cola had earnings of $0.65.
• Apple Computer (AAPL) : Apple is going to report fiscal second quarter numbers tomorrow, and analysts have forecast earnings of $2.43 per share, compared with $1.33 it earned during the same period last year.
• Altera Corp (ALTR) : Altera is due to reporting Q1 numbers, with Wall Street forecasts calling for $0.40 per share. For the same period last year the company had earnings of $0.15.
• State Street (STT) : State Street is going to report Q1 earnings tomorrow. Analysts have forecast $0.75 per share, verse $1.04 during the same period last year.

you can find a complete listing of upcoming and historic earnings reports on earnings.com

As we noted in our Google earnings preview, analysts had forecast earnings of $6.60 for the quarter. Google outpaced analyst earnings by posting earnings of $6.76 a share.

Despite posting better than expected earnings figures, the stock traded down nearly 5% in after hours trading as investors reacted negatively to the company’s rising costs.

Total costs and expenses rose to $4.3 billion from $3.6 billion during the same period last year. Most of the increase in expenses came from hiring close to 800 new employees during the quarter.

Visit bloggingstocks for a more in depth analysis of Google’s first quarter results.

• Google Inc. (GOOG) : Google will be reporting its first quarter numbers tomorrow after the market closes. Wall Street has forecast earnings of $6.57 per share. For the same period last year the company had earnings of $5.16. GOOG was up 0.38% on the day to $589.00. The company will report earnings after the market close.
• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) : AMD will be releasing its first quarter results tomorrow, and analysts have forecast the company to report a loss of $0.07 per share. During the same period last year the company reported a loss of $0.66. The stock traded up 3.4% on the day to $9.89. The company will report earnings after the market close.
• Bank of America Corporation (BAC) : Bank of America will be reporting its first quarter results on Friday with analyst forecasting $0.09 a share. For the same period last year the company had earnings of $0.44. The company will be reporting before the market opens on Friday.
• General Electric (GE) : General Electric will be reporting its first quarter results on Friday. Wall Street analysts have forecast earnings of $0.16, compared with $0.26 during the same period last year. The company will be reporting before the market opens Friday.