Big Profits, Even Bigger Margins

The cash keeps rolling into Corporate America's coffers. Against the headwinds of slower economic growth, stubbornly high oil prices, and inflation jitters, first-quarter profits among the 900 companies on BusinessWeek's Corporate Scoreboard still charged forward 16% from a year ago, on a 13% increase in revenues, well ahead of Wall Street's initial expectations.

Resilient consumer spending and little letup in business investment helped fuel strong sales growth in the first quarter. When tallied, profits during the quarter reached $170.6 billion, a $23.6 billion increase from a year ago. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM ) pumped its earnings up to $7.9 billion on higher oil prices and General Electric Co. (GM ) profits soared to $4 billion on broad-based improvement. Both set first-period records. And speaking of uncharted territory, General Motors Co. (GM ) drove itself to a record loss of $1.1 billion with a seemingly endless road of trouble still ahead for the world's largest auto maker.