Earning Plays

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Friday, May 16
S&P 500 first-quarter earnings drop nearly 26%(10:35 am ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Standard & Poor's said Friday that early data shows first-quarter earnings for companies on the S&P 500 index fell 25.9% from a year ago. S&P said this marks the third consecutive quarter the index has reported declining earnings, an event not seen since the fourth quarter of 2001. "The shift in earnings continues, with Energy contributing 23.2% of S&P 500 operating earnings during the first quarter, up from 13.6% a year ago," said Howard Silverblatt, S&P's senior index analyst, in a statement. "Conversely, Financials have now become a negative contributor after accounting for 29.7% of operating earnings this time last year."
U.S. gasoline prices rise to new record of $3.79 a gallon(8:43 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. gasoline prices edged up a penny in the last day to a new record average of $3.79 a gallon for unleaded, according to the Daily Fuel Gauge Report from AAA. A month ago, gas sold for $3.40 a gallon and a year ago it cost $3.11 a gallon.
Abercrombie & Fitch posts rise in first-quarter profit(7:14 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF: news, chart, profile) said Friday that its fiscal first-quarter net income rose to $62.1 million, or 69 cents a share, from $60.1 million, or 65 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. The New Albany, Ohio, clothing retailer said net sales rose 8% to $800.2 million from $742.4 million, while comparable-store sales fell 3%. Analysts polled by FactSet Research expected, on average, earnings of 66 cents a share and revenue of $803.6 million. Abercrombie & Fitch maintained its first-half profit forecast of $1.61 to $1.65 a share, an increase of 5% to 8% from a year earlier. It also said it plans to grow gross square footage by about 10%, down from an earlier estimate of 11%.
FairPoint's lower quarterly results reflect impact of merger(6:50 am ET)
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- FairPoint Communications Inc. (FRP: news, chart, profile) reported first-quarter net income of $9.5 million, or 18 cents a share, down from $14.4 million, or 27 cents, earned in the year-earlier period. Quarterly revenue for the Charlotte, N.C.-based telecom carrier also fell, slipping to $282.4 million from nearly $298 million in the prior year. The results reflect from an accounting standpoint only the former local-exchange operations of Verizon Communications (VZ: news, chart, profile) in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, FairPoint noted. The company completed its merger with Northern New England Spinco Inc., the entity formed to hold the Verizon businesses in the three states, as of March 31. It expanded FairPoint's service footprint to 18 states. Pro-forma operating results showed continued erosion in the number of access lines that FairPoint serves during the March quarter.
BA's quarterly pretax profit GBP95M, pays dividend(2:28 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- British Airways Plc (UK:BAY: news, chart, profile) , Europe's third-largest flag carrier, on Friday reported fourth-quarter pretax profit of 95 million pounds and operating profit of 141 million pounds. Revenue rose 10.3% to 2.1 billion pounds. The carrier said it reached its operating margin goal of 10% for the full airline. Looking ahead, the airline said it expects revenue to increase 4% this financial year, at the lower end of guidance, and non-fuel costs are seen up 3% to 3.5%, or around 200 million pounds. Based on the current oil price of $120, British Airways' total fuel costs would rise by around 1 billion pounds this year. The airline warned that the first quarter would be particularly difficult in what promises to be a "challenging" year. British Airways also proposed a dividend of 5 pence a share for the year that just ended, its first dividend since 2001
Ladbrokes profit up 13%, sees no consumer slowdown(2:25 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. bookmaker Ladbrokes (UK:LAD: news, chart, profile) said in a trading update Friday that profit from continuing operations in the four months to the end of April rose 13% excluding its high-roller customers and gross win rose by 16%. The company said growth was helped by strong betting on football and at its online sportsbook and casino. Ladbrokes added it has seen no evidence of a consumer downturn, but added it "remains mindful" of the general economic conditions and is targeting further growth in Italy and Spain.