General Electric has posted a quarterly decrease in profit of 42 percent, a result that, while disappointing in and of itself, actually marks an improvement from what analysts predicted for the massive company. In fact, GE’s results showed that its important industrial business is showing signs of recovery, hitting a record $174 billion backlog of equipment and services orders.
The company’s quarterly revenue was smaller than analysts expected, but the strong performance of its industrial and media businesses helped to stave off GE’s current main weakness, its GE Capital financial division. GE’s results sent its shares down 5.5 percent, or 92 …read more

European electronics maker Royal Philips Electronics has posted an unexpected third-quarter profit due to the fact that the company’s operating earnings in its consumer unit almost doubled. Considering the dire straits that the technology industry has been through since the onset of the witehring recession, Philips’ performance has come as something of a surprise to many analysts.
The company’s third-quarter net income rose to $256 million, marking a rise of almost 300 percent from the same period last year’s figures. Philips’ performance completely smashes analyst expectations, with analysts expecting a net income loss of 44.7 million euros, or about $66 million. Sales, …read more

Many companies are starting to feel a little more optimistic today. And it’s little surprise. The stock market is rallying as reasonably good economic news filters in. First of all, Alcoa earnings offered a pleasant surprise for investors. Expected to report yet another quarter of losses, Alcoa instead turned out a good profit report. The materials company is expected to have benefited from the demand associated with Cash for Clunkers.
Other good news included better than expected retail sales data. Same store retail sales were stronger than expected in September, and that has provided some hope for the holiday season. While …read more

Nike’s fiscal first-quarter profit has increased slightly, mostly on the back of cost cutting efforts that were undertaken by the sportswear giant earlier this year. However, Nike’s profits have managed to exceed analyst expectations and the company expects cost cutting efforts to dominate the results for the near future.
 
After Nike made the results public, its shares rose 4.3 percent to $62.68 in after-hours trading on Tuesday, marking a dramatic comeback from its three-year-low of $38.24 in March. Nike reported earnings of $513 million, or $1.04 per share, this quarter, which is up from its earnings of $510.5 million, or $1.03 …read more

In all the doom and gloom of these tough economic times, at least one company has reported quarterly results that are leaps and bounds above analyst expectations and extremely solid on their own right. Foods maker General Mills has reported a first-quarter profit jump of 51 percent from last year to this year, launching its shares up.
 
General Mills’ fiscal first quarter net income was $420.6 million, or $1.25 per share, which has increased from a net income of $278.5 million, or 79 cents per share, last year. Revenue has risen 1 percent from last year to $3.52 billion, while Wall …read more

Barely topping Wall Street expectations, Pep Boys has managed to post a second quarter profit that marks 42 percent increase over profits posted last quarter. However, the profit report comes alongside reports indicating that Pep Boys’ revenue has suffered due to falling sales of discretionary items.
Pep Boys shares have fallen 5.4 percent to $9.55 due to sales falling short of analyst expectations for the company, which places Pep Boys stock 10 percent below its one-year high two months ago but much higher than its $2.62 January low. The company is in the midst of a turnaround, one that has begun …read more

The recession has taken an especially severe toll on computer makers and other technology companies as their main customers, corporations, have had to cut back on technology spending. However, one computer company, Dell, has posted surprisingly strong second quarter results that hint at an imminent recovery in sales as more companies become able to upgrade their computers once again.
 
Today, Dell reported profits of $472 million, or 24 cents a share, compared to $616 million in profits last year, marking a 23 percent decline over the year. However, excluding the costs associated with putting its recovery mechanisms in place, Dell reported …read more

Petsmart’s second quarter brought with it surprisingly high profits, allowing the pet products retailer to narrowly beat the average analyst estimate for its second-quarter performance. Despite of its relative success in the second quarter, though, Petsmart has decided to cut its full year view off of predictions that sales would end up lower than expected.
 
Previously, Petsmart had predicted earnings of anywhere from $1.42 to $1.52 per share, but now the company has decided to revamp its earnings prediction to a range from $1.37 to $1.45 per share. Analysts have predicted that Petsmart will bring in $1.52 per share, but they …read more

Nvidia Corp. managed to rein in its fiscal second-quarter loss after the graphics-chip maker’s product line-up experienced a significant recovery from where it had been coming into this quarter. Although the loss marked its fourth loss in the last five quarters, Nvidia’s results still managed to top analyst expectations and gave the company more confidence in drafting its estimate for the current quarter.
 
Following the results, Nvidia’s shares jumped to $14.25 in after-hours trading, an increase of 8.6 percent. The company’s stock reached a four-year low last November but has managed to nearly double in value since then, reflecting the dramatic …read more

Cisco Systems Inc. is bracing for a drop in revenue for its fourth consecutive quarter, signaling the recession’s impact on the world’s largest maker of networking products. The company’s first fiscal quarter, which ends in October, will show a 15 to 17 percent drop in revenue, according to a recent company statement. 
 
As far as the actual numbers go, Cisco’s revenue will fall from $10.4 billion just a year ago to somewhere between $8.6 and $8.8 billion due to global sales of routers and switches falling 20 percent this year. These products account for about half of Cisco’s total sales.
 
Cisco’s shares …read more