Capella Education, the parent company of the for-profit Capella University, says its third-quarter net income was $5.1 million, down nearly 50 percent compared to the $9.9 million it earned in the July-September quarter last year, the Associated Press reports. Even as total enrollment, revenue and net income fell, new student enrollment at the Minneapolis-based provider of online post-secondary education rose 10.5 percent compared to last year -- the first increase in nearly two years, Reuters reports.

Rising enrollments for Medicare and Medicaid plans helped boost Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group in the second-quarter. The biggest U.S. health insurer says net income rose 5.5 percent to trump Wall Street expectations.

St. Paul-based Ecolab posted second quarter sales that jumped 74 percent to $3 billion thanks to its December acquisition of liquid filtration giant Nalco, the Star Tribune reports. Excluding Nalco, sales rose 3 percent during the quarter. All combined, net income jumped an impressive 47 percent to $184.5 million, or 62 cents a share.

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp reported high-than-expected quarterly profit as revenue rose and set aside less money for bad loans. The fifth-largest U.S. commercial bank posted a net income of $1.42 billion in the second-quarter.

Select Comfort Corp.'s shares soared 19 percent in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company reported it beat Wall Street expectations with strong gains in both sales and profits. The Plymouth-based maker of the Sleep Number bed also announced plans to open more stores than originally expected.

Double-digit gains helped fuel the Plymouth-based maker of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. Arctic Cat saw a 26 percent increase in net sales and 130 percent increase in net income for Arctic Cat's just completed fiscal year. The results beat Wall Street predictions, but Arctic Cat issued lower-than-expected profit and sales predictions for the current fiscal year.

The Golden Valley-based company reported a 9 percent sales increase, despite alack of demand in Western Europe. Pentair is in the process of merging with Tyco International's Flow Control business.

St. Jude Medical, Inc. reported a 22 percent drop in profits for the third quarter, MarketWatch reports. The Little Canada-based medical equipment supplier and manufacturer posted a profit of $176 million, down from $227 million a year ago.