For the first blank, by understanding the background of the sentence we can infer that employees hoped to find indications of something positive. Among the option choices only resurgence fits well.
For the second blank, the key word to note is ‘however’, this indicates that although the results were positive, employees were disappointed. So, among the answer choices tepid fits well.

Since the employees "hoped to find indications"

It is clear from the overall meaning of the sentence that the employees who were aware of the unprofitable previous fiscal year were hoping to find indications of better performance this year. Therefore, resurgence, is the perfect choice. The other two words are (decline and bankruptcy) negative words and do not convey the intended meaning.

However, they were disappointed by the earnings, and that can be so, only if the earnings were not impressive - hence the answer to the second blank should be tepid. Prodigious earnings would not disappoint. Emaciated seems too strong a word, and the word is usually used to refer to human beings who are just skins and bones due to starvation, whereas "tepid earnings" is a commonly used phrase. People do not use emaciated to describe earnings. This is a Kaplan questions and is not really a good one. ETS would not create questions like this, where you have emaciated and tepid as answer choices.

tepid means uninteresting or lukewarm. Neither meaning fits in here. How is it an answer then?

I agree.

earnings are low or below the expectative or they have a faint growing. Something like that

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