Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures advanced amid optimism that companies will be able to sustain profit growth after beating fourth-quarter estimates.

``Earnings will be a lot more resilient than everybody thought,'' said Thomas Meier, a fund manager at Union Investment in Frankfurt, which oversees $145 billion in assets. ``Companies are much better prepared. I'm quite happy,'' with earnings.

Chevron Corp. advanced in Europe after crude oil rose almost 2 percent. Alcoa Inc. jumped after JPMorgan, Chase & Co. raised the stock to ``overweight.'' Nike Inc., the world's biggest athletic-shoe maker, rose after UBS AG upgraded the shares.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in March added 3.4 to 1268.9 as of 11:35 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 27 to 10,828 and Nasdaq 100 Index futures increased 5.5 to 1673.

Sixty-four percent of 345 S&P 500 members to have reported so far have beaten analysts' estimates, according to Bloomberg calculations from Thomson Financial data. The S&P 500 has lost 2.3 percent since the four-year high reached on Jan. 11 as earnings from companies including Intel Corp. and General Electric Co. disappointed some investors.

About 10 companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to announce quarterly earnings today, including Walt Disney Co., the No. 2 U.S. media company, which will report after the close. Disney shares lost 14 cents to $24.87 in Germany.

Futures also rose ahead of President George W. Bush's fiscal 2007 budget and comments from Ben S. Bernanke, the new Federal Reserve chairman, who will be sworn in today.

Fourth-quarter earnings reports wind down this week. About 50 companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to release figures, down from more than 100 in each of the last two weeks.

Hasbro Inc., the world's second-biggest toymaker, said fourth-quarter profit rose 15 percent to $94.3 million, or 48 cents a share, helped by sales of Star Wars action figures and light sabers. Ten analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial estimated profit of 58 cents. The stock didn't trade in Europe.

Alcoa, the world's biggest aluminum maker, advanced 29 cents to $30.87. The stock was raised to ``overweight'' from ``neutral'' at JPMorgan.

``The market seems to be ignoring the strong aluminum price and the impact it will have on Alcoa's earnings and cash flow in 2006,'' the analysts wrote in a note.

Humana Inc., the fifth-largest U.S. health insurance provider, said fourth-quarter profit rose 37 percent to $64.6 million, or 39 cents a share, as its enrollment was boosted by customers signing up for company plans that supplement Medicare. The company was expected to earn 45 cents a share, according to the average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. The stock fell 38 cents to $54.52 in Germany.

Bush's budget will be released at 10 a.m. in Washington. The president has promised to reduce a budget deficit that reached $319 billion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 and is projected to reach at least $337 billion this year.

FEI Co. surged $1.12 to $26.36 in Germany. Carl Zeiss AG is mulling the purchase of U.S. semiconductor-supplier FEI for $1 billion, Financial Times Deutschland reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

Managers at both companies are agreed on a price equivalent to $30 a share, the newspaper said. Shares of FEI, based in Hillsboro, Oregon, closed at $25.24 on Friday.

Talbots Inc. is close to buying women's clothing retailer J. Jill Group Inc., for a price that might top $450 million, the Wall Street Journal said today, citing people familiar with the situation.

Talbots may offer as much as $24 a share, the Journal said. J. Jill stock closed Friday at $19.20 a share. Shares of both companies didn't trade in Europe.

Lafarge North America Inc. soared $10.05 to $74.30 in Germany. Lafarge SA, the world's biggest cement maker, offered $3 billion to buy out minority shareholders of its North American unit.

Sara Lee Corp., the maker of Hanes underwear and Hillshire Farm deli meats, was raised to ``neutral'' from ``underweight'' at JPMorgan. The stock lost 5 cents to $17.50 in Germany.

Micron Technology Inc. jumped 63 cents to $15.52 in Germany. Shares of the largest U.S. maker of computer memory chips were raised to ``buy'' from ``hold'' at Citigroup Inc. The analysts cited DRAM chips as the driver of profit growth.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. advanced 23 cents to $15.44 in Germany. The largest U.S. tiremaker may have a gain of 40 percent during the next year to $22 a share on strong demand for its products, Barron's reported. The slide in the company's shares last week after it warned investors of a higher-than-expected 13 percent jump in raw materials costs presents a buying opportunity, the weekly newspaper said.

Legg Mason Inc. might gain. The company, which swapped its securities brokerage for Citigroup Inc.'s asset-management unit last December, was recommended by CNBC host Jim Cramer on his ``Mad Money'' show because he said sales would rise if U.S. states outsource management of prepaid college tuition plans. The shares didn't trade in Europe.

PG&E Corp., the owner of California's largest utility, agreed to pay $295 million to settle lawsuits related to water contaminated by chromium near one of the company's gas pipelines. The stock didn't trade in Europe.

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