AT&T posts higher earnings; Ford warns of 2007 market share; plus more stocks in the news Thursday
From Standard&Poor's Equity Research. Equity Office Properties (EOP) Amends its merger agreement with Blackstone Group. Under terms of the amended agreement, Blackstone will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Equity Office Properties for $54 per share cash, in a deal valued at about $38.3 billion.
AT&T (T) Posts $0.61 vs. $0.48 fourth quarter earnings per share (EPS) (adjusted) on a 23% revenue rise.
Ford Motor (F) Posts $1.10 fourth quarter loss from continuing operations (excluding special items) vs. $0.15 loss on a 13% revenue drop. Says US market share is expected to be down through the third quarter 2007 due to lower fleet sales.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Announces TCL Computer Tech. Co. Ltd., the fourth largest PC provider in China, will offer customers a range of commercial notebooks and desktops based on its AMD64 processors.
Dow Chemical (DOW) Posts a better-than-expected $1.00 vs. $1.12 fourth quarter EPS as higher expenses offset a 2.7% sales rise.
Beazer Homes USA (BZH) Posts $1.54 first quarter loss vs. $2.00 EPS on a 27% revenue drop. Notes first quarter fiscal year 2007 includes charges related to inventory impairments and abandonment of land option contracts. Sees $1.25 to $1.50 fiscal year 2007 EPS.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) Posts $0.07 first quarter GAAP loss from continuing operations vs. $0.26 EPS on 16% lower sales. Cites an increase in litigation reserves and early debt retirement costs. Sees $1.12 to $1.22 2007 GAAP EPS.
eBay Inc (EBAY) Posts $0.31 vs. $0.24 fourth quarter EPS on a 29% revenue rise. Sees $0.28 to $0.30 first quarter EPS on $1.67 billion to $1.72 billion revenue and $1.25 to $1.29 2007 EPS on $7.05 billion to $7.3 billion revenue. Sets additional $2 billion stock buyback.
Qualcomm Inc (QCOM) Posts $0.38 vs. $0.36 first quarter EPS on a 16% revenue rise. Notes record 3G handset and chipset shipments. Sees $0.35 to $0.37 second quarter EPS on revenue of $2 billion to $2.1 billion.
The McGraw-Hill Cos. (MHP) Posts $0.56 vs. $0.50 fourth quarter EPS on a 3.4% revenue rise. Sees double-digit earnings growth in 2007. McGraw-Hill is the parent company of Standard&Poor's and BusinessWeek.com.
