Earning Plays

[3xBuBu]

Monday, April 13
CORRECT: Goldman Sachs swings to profit, plans offering(4:34 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS: news, chart, profile) said Monday it swung to a profit in the first-quarter compared to the prior period, and announced it has commenced a public offering of $5 billion of its common stock. Goldman Sachs said net earnings for the period ended in March were $1.8 billion, or $3.39 a share, compared to $1.5 billion, or $3.23 a share in the same period a year earlier. Analysts had been anticipating earnings of $1.64 a share, according to Thomson Reuters data. Meanwhile revenue net of interest expense rose to $9.4 billion from $8.3 billion. Goldman Sachs said in a statement that it intends to use proceeds of the $5 billion offering to help redeem "all of the TARP capital." (Corrects figure for comparable period in 2008).
SPX Corp. lowers profit forecast(9:13 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- SPX Corp. (SPW: news, chart, profile) said Monday that it is cutting its earnings forecast for both the first quarter and full year, citing ongoing deterioration of global economic conditions. The Charlotte-based maker of infrastructure products said it now expects to report full-year earnings from continuing operations of $4.40 to $4.80 a share, compared to its previous guidance of $5.40 to $5.80, with revenue down 12% to 16% from the prior year to a range of $4.9 billion to $5.1 billion. For the first quarter, it sees revenue down about 14% compared to the year-ago period and earnings from continuing operations near the low end of the previous guidance range of 75 cents to 85 cents a share.
Thursday, April 9
Chevron warns of "sharply lower" quarterly earnings (5:32 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)-- Chevron Corp. (CVX: news, chart, profile) said late Thursday it expects its first-quarter 2009 earnings to be "sharply lower" than in the fourth quarter of 2008. While it did not provide specific earnings estimates, the company said in its interim quarterly update that weak energy demand and falling oil and gas prices worldwide had cut into its results, offsetting production gains. At the same time, the San Ramon, Calif.-based company said that with the exception of the U.S. West Coast region, its refining margins fell worldwide in the first months of the year. Chevron is scheduled to release its first-quarter results on May 1. Chevron shares rose 1.1% ahead of the interim report to close at $69.23.
Departing Symantec CEO to make $500,000 a year as chairman(4:25 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Symantec Corp. (SYMC: news, chart, profile) said Thursday departing Chief Executive John Thompson will earn $500,000 annually to remain as chairman of the board of directors at the security software maker. Thompson announced his retirement in November, after leading Cupertino, Calif.-based Symantec for nearly ten years. Former chief operating officer Enrique Salem became acting CEO earlier this month. Effective April 4, Thompson began earning his new salary, and will also recieve benefits including severance pay and a $10,000 reimbursement for his "individual financial planning strategy and income tax preparation in relation to the 2009 tax year," the company said.