Earning Plays

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Tuesday, June 2

FirstEnergy issues 2009 profit outlook(5:06 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- FirstEnergy Corp. (FE: news, chart, profile) late Tuesday said it expects to earn fiscal 2009 adjusted earnings between $3.70 and $3.85 a share. On average, analysts expect FirstEnergy to earn $3.64 a share, according to FactSet Research. The Akron, Ohio energy provider plans to make a presentation to analysts on Wednesday in New York City. The company serves 4.5 million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. FirstEnergy shares rose more than 3% to $39.97 in late trading.

Aetna lowers 2009 profit guidance(4:10 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Aetna Inc. (AET: news, chart, profile) said Tuesday it's lowering guidance for earnings in 2009 to between $3.55 and $3.70 a share, from its previous range of between $3.85 and $3.95 a share. The insurance company cited "higher projected Commercial medical costs; and lower projected 2009 Medicare revenue." Shares of Aetna fell more than 10% in late trading to $24.40.

Energy stocks cool off after big gains (9:37 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Energy stocks cooled off Tuesday after three days of strong gains, as crude futures weakened. The Amex Oil Index (XOI: news, chart, profile) fell 0.7% to 1,013. The Amex Natural Gas Index (XNG: news, chart, profile) fell 1.9% to 452. Natco Group (NTG: news, chart, profile) jumped 17% to $36.19 after it agreed to be bought by Cameron International (CAM: news, chart, profile) . Cameron International fell 4.3% to $31.06.

Morgan Stanley to raise $2.2 billion common equity(7:17 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Morgan Stanley said Tuesday that it intends to raise $2.2 billion in common equity to satisfy a condition to redeem Troubled Asset Relief Progra preferred capital. While approval for repayment has not been granted, Morgan Stanley believes that upon completion of this capital raise it will have satisfied the criteria for fully redeeming the TARP preferred capital and expects to redeem it before the end of June. The offering is expected to include China Investment Corp. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.

Pepsi Bottling lifts estimates for quarter, year(6:31 am ET)
TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Pepsi Bottling Group Inc., (PBG: news, chart, profile) the Somers, N.Y., bottler of Pepsi (PEP: news, chart, profile) drinks, raised its comparable-earnings estimates for the second quarter and 2009. The company added a nickel a share to its estimate for the quarter, bringing the range to 70 cents to 74 cents, and a dime a share to its full-year view, bringing the range to $2.30 to $2.40. A survey of analysts by FactSet Research produced consensus estimates of 70 cents for the quarter and $2.26 for the year. "Among the key drivers of the company's revised outlook are improved carbonated-soft-drink performance in the U.S., decreased volatility in foreign currencies, and continued commodity-cost deflation," Pepsi Bottling said in a statement on Tuesday. Business fundamentals in the U.S. and Canada are improving and its global pricing strategy is succeeding, "producing solid results," PBG said.

CORRECT: Ryanair loses $239 million(2:55 am ET)
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY: news, chart, profile) (UK:RYA: news, chart, profile) , the Irish-based European discount airline, said it lost 169.1 million euros ($239 million) in the year ending March 31 after earning 390.7 million euros the previous year, with the airline taking accelerated depreciation of 51.6 million euros on aircraft and a 222.5 million euro impairment charge on its Aer Lingus (UK:AERL: news, chart, profile) stake. The company's fuel bill rose 59% to 466 million euros. Revenue rose 8% to 2.94 billion euros. The airline highlighted that its passenger traffic of 67 million and market capitalization as of May 1 exceeded Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and British Airways. It expects annual traffic to climb 15% and an adjusted after-tax profit between 200 million and 300 million euros, compared to 105 million euros in the past fiscal year. (Fixes date of comparison in profit forecast.)
Monday, June 1

GM cutting 7,900 salaried jobs by end of year(10:13 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- General Motors Corp. (GM: news, chart, profile) said Monday it would cut 7,900 jobs this year as part of its move to emerge from bankrtupcy. The auto maker said it'll cut salaried employment in North America from its year-end total of 35,100 to approximately 27,200. It'll also reduce retiree benefits for salaried retirees and non-UAW hourly retirees. GM also said GM Europe has an agreement for bridge financing from the German government and a Memorandum of Understanding to partner with Magna International Inc. (MGA: news, chart, profile) . GM's Opel/Vauxhall assets have been pooled under Adam Opel GmbH, with the majority of the shares of Adam Opel GmbH being put into an independent trust. Negotiations to close the agreement should take several weeks, GM said.