Broader Markets Look Strong On The Open
Stocks appear set to open higher
Tuesday after the markets took a breather to celebrate the Martin Luther King
holiday.
Amazon.com
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PowerRating) reported a
profit of 1 cent a share for Q4 with a pro forma profit of 9 cents. AMZN beat
analysts’ estimates of a loss of 7 cents a share.
According to an article in Barron’s,
Jim Covello, an analyst for Goldman Sachs, still recommends avoiding the
semiconductor sector after he successfully called the Intel
(
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PowerRating) cuts.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Nokia
(
NOK |
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PowerRating)
from Neutral to Underperform and put the price target for the company at $13.
P&O Princess Cruises has rejected
Carnival Corp’s
(
CCL |
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PowerRating) revised bid and said it will continue the merger
with Royal Caribbean
(
RCL |
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PowerRating).
Tyco International
(
TYC |
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PowerRating) announced
it will break up into four independent companies. TYC said it will have all
the IPOs for the new companies completed by Q2 2002.
Williams Companies
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WMB |
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PowerRating) named
Steven Malcolm Chief Executive Officer to replace Keith Bailey who is
retiring. Malcolm had served as Chief Operating Officer for the company.
The following stocks lock-up expires
today: Inergy Lp
(
NRGY |
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PowerRating) and PDF Solutions Inc
(
PDFS |
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PowerRating).
Drug giant Merck & Co.
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MRK |
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PowerRating)
posted a 5% increase in Q4 profits. The company reported revenues of $1.86
billion, or 81 cents per share, in line with analysts’ consensus according to a
survey taken by Thomson Financial/First Call.
Alcan Inc
(
AL |
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PowerRating) reported a $357
million loss for Q4 after the aluminum maker took a $446 million charge. AL
posted a net profit of $73 million, or 22 cents a share, excluding nonrecurring
items vs. a profit of $132 million, or 41 cents, for the same quarter a year ago.
According to a poll taken by Thomson Financial/First Call, analysts expected a
profit of 18 cents a share.
Cardinal Health Inc.
(
CAH |
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PowerRating) posted
a Q2 net profit of 62 cents a share, or $283.3 million. Based on a survey taken
by Thomson Financial/First Call, analysts were expecting earnings of
63 cents a share.
Lucent Technologies
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LU |
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PowerRating) posted a
loss of 23 cents a share, beating analysts’ estimates of a loss of 24 cents a
share according to Thomson Financial/First Call.
Rockwell Automation
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ROK |
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PowerRating) posted
Q1 earnings of 16 cents a share, beating analysts’ consensus of 15 cents
according to a poll taken by Thomson Financial/First Call.
U.S. telephone company BellSouth Corp
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PowerRating) reported that net income fell to $792 million, or 42 cents a share,
compared to $1.1 billion, or 59 cents, for the same quarter a year ago.