Anything short of slingshot growth and rosy projections is cause for concern among Toyota investors who have pushed the stock up three-fold since 2003. Shares were off fractionally in afternoon trades Wednesday in New York. But putting the numbers in perspective should help soothe those fearing an earnings plateau, or even a decline.


GM said last week that its first-quarter profit plunged 90%, mainly due to the brutal impact the subprime loan fiasco had on the company's financing operations. GM's new truck and SUV lineup helped, but the U.S. car business still reported a loss.


And Ford, while making significant strides from its whopping $12.6 billion loss last year, still endured more red ink in its key North American auto operations.


Of course, GM (GM) and Ford (F) are battling massive healthcare burdens, a steady consumer shift away from their truck-heavy lineups and an unfair perception that the quality of American cars hasn't improved since the Pinto.


Not to mention the historic restructuring efforts, which have cost tens of thousands of jobs and several plant closures. So what's Honda's and Nissan's excuse?


Honda (HMC) , Japan's second biggest automaker by sales volume, late last month said its net profit fell 20% to $1.48 billion from a year earlier, mainly because of a one-off accounting gain related to its pension fund last year. Honda forecast higher vehicle sales but weaker profits for the current year.


Nissan (NSANY) took an even bigger hit with its 46% drop in January-March net profit to about $686 million, as a lack of punchy new models in the U.S. sapped demand.


Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn, overseeing the first annual profit decline since the cost-cutting guru grabbed the helm in 2000, added to the bad news when he said the car maker will miss key performance targets after a slump last year.


Now, go back and take another look at Toyota's numbers. Not so bad, eh?