Stocks to watch Thursday: Groupon, Pepsi

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) � Among the stocks that could see active trade in Thursday�s session are Groupon Inc., Dunkin� Brands Group Inc., Lorillard Inc. and PepsiCo Inc.

Late Wednesday, shares of Groupon GRPN �slumped 15% after the company posted a quarterly loss of 2 cents a share as opposed to an expected profit of 3 cents a share. It was not only Groupon�s first earnings report as a public company, but was also supposed to be its first profitable quarter in two years.

Diamond Foods Inc. DMND �plunged more than 40% after the company announced that the audit committee of its board of directors concluded that the company�s financial reports for fiscal 2010 and 2011 need to be restated as about $80 million worth of payments made to walnut growers were not properly accounted for.

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The same committee also found that there are �material weaknesses� in internal accounting controls. In addition, the board is replacing both the chief executive officer and chief financial officer.

And News Corp. NWS �slipped about 1% after reporting that its fiscal second-quarter profit rose 65% on higher earnings from cable TV networks and film studios.

The company also said that while it still expects fiscal 2012 operating-income growth to be in the low- to mid-teens percentage rate, that excludes legal fees and other costs tied to a phone-hacking scandal that led to the closure of its News Of the World tabloid in the U.K. last summer.

News Corp. is the owner of MarketWatch, the publisher of this report.

Dunkin� DNKN �is slated to release its fourth-quarter financial report before the opening bell. The chain is expected to earn 28 cents a share on revenue of $160.6 million, according to the average estimate of analysts polled by FactSet Research.

Lorillard LO �is also up in the morning and should earn $1.94 a share with revenue of $1.08 billion, according to forecasts.

PepsiCo PEP �will post a profit of $1.13 a share on sales of $19.89 billion, according to estimates.

Other companies scheduled for earnings reports included Philip Morris International Inc. PM �, Sirius XM Radio Inc. SIRI �and Thomson Reuters Corp. TRI �.

Visa Inc. V �gained about 2% in after-hours action Wednesday after it posted a better-than-expected increase in quarterly profit and said it would buy back $500 million worth of its stock.