Coca-Cola Co.

$60.94

-0.10%

The Missouri Supreme Court rejected class-action certification Tuesday for a lawsuit claiming Coca-Cola has misled consumers about the sweeteners used in some Diet Coke products.

The lawsuit contends that many consumers would not have bought the fountain version of Diet Coke had they known it contained the sweetener saccharin, which some people fear can cause health problems.

A Jackson County judge approved the lawsuit as a class action in February 2006. But the state's highest court prohibited that in a unanimous decision.

The Supreme Court said the classification was overly broad, because it could have covered an indefinite number of people, many of whom did not really care how their Diet Coke was sweetened.

—- Associated Press

Intel stock rises after earnings

Intel Corp.'s first-quarter profit matched Wall Street's subdued expectations, a sign the company's core microprocessor business remained healthy amid fears of a broader slowdown in technology spending.

The stock jumped in after-hours trading Tuesday after the technology bellwether forecast higher profit margins in the second quarter and signaled that it is thriving while its smaller rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., continues to stumble.

Intel said its net profit for the three months ended March 29 was $1.44 billion, or 25 cents per share. That's a 12 percent decline from the year-ago period, when Intel earned $1.64 billion, or 28 cents per share. But it was in line with the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Intel's sales of $9.67 billion —- a 9 percent improvement over last year and a record for the first quarter —- came in slightly higher than Wall Street's estimate of $9.63 billion.

—- Associated Press