Wyeth Earnings Jump 44% on Gain

Updated from 8:22 a.m. EDT

Wyeth(WYE Quote) easily beat the Street when it came to earnings Wednesday. But the Street -- gently -- beat back the company's stock.

Shares of the Madison, N.J.-based drug giant lost 28 cents, or 0.6%, to close at $47.95. But earlier in the day, the stock fell as low as $46.02.

The stock's decline was in contrast to the company's second-quarter earnings of 65 cents a share, well above the 49 cents predicted by the Thomson First Call consensus of 26 analysts. Second-quarter earnings rose 44% from 45 cents a share in the same period last year. ...