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Tuesday, June 23

Darden reports higher profit(4:53 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI: news, chart, profile) late Tuesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $123 million, or 87 cents a share, compared to net income of $101.8 million, or 71 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales rose to $1.97 billion from $1.82 billion. Sales included an extra week of business in the most recent period. Same-restaurant sales for Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse fell 1.4%. For fiscal 2010, Darden said it expects to earn between $2.59 and $2.85 a share. Darden shares closed at $33 ahead of the report. The stock is up 17% this year.

Jabil Circuit swings to a $28.8 million loss(4:37 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL: news, chart, profile) on Tuesday reported a fiscal third-quarter loss of $28.8 million, or 14 cents a share, compared to a profit of $38.4 million, or 19 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue for the electronics contract manufacturer fell to $2.6 billion from last year's sales of $3.1 billion. Jabil said its earnings excluding one-time items, or what it calls its core earnings, were $8.5 million, or 4 cents a share. For its fourth-quarter, Jabil estimates it will lose up to 9 cents a share, or could earn as much as a penny a share, on revenue between $2.5 billion and $2.7 billion.

Oracle profit slumps, but tops Wall Street views(4:05 pm ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Oracle Corp. (ORCL: news, chart, profile) said Tuesday its fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell to $1.9 billion, or 38 cents a share, from $2 billion, or 39 cents a share in the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the period ended in May fell 5% to $6.9 billion, Oracle said. Excluding special items, earnings were 46 cents a share. Analysts on average had been expecting Oracle to post earnings excluding special items of 44 cents a share, and $6.5 billion in revenue, according to data from Thomson Reuters.

J.P. Morgan upgrades FedEx to overweight(12:19 pm ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Saying bad news is already reflected in its stock price, J.P. Morgan Chase analyst Thomas R. Wadewitz on Tuesday upgraded FedEx (FDX: news, chart, profile) to overweight from neutral. A potential bankruptcy for rival YRC Worldwide (YRCW: news, chart, profile) could boost prospects for FedEx. "We expect gradual improvement in transport demand data points to drive upside for the stock," Wadewitz said in a note to clients. He lifted his price target on the stock to $66 a share from $60 a share. (Updates to clarify that YRC Worldwide is not in bankruptcy.)

Kroger earnings climb to 66 cents a share(8:58 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Kroger Co. (KR: news, chart, profile) said Tuesday that first-quarter earnings were, $435 million, or 66 cents a share, compared to $386 million, or 58 cents a share, in last year's period. Total sales, including fuel, in the first quarter were $22.8 billion compared with $23.1 billion for the same period last year. Analysts polled by FactSet Research estimated, on average, earnings per share of 62 cents and sales of $23.3 billion. Kroger confirmed its full-year 2009 earnings outlook of $2.00 to $2.05 a share.

Cytec cuts 2009 earnings forecast(7:39 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Cytec Industries Inc. (CYT: news, chart, profile) said Tuesday that due to continued deterioration in market demand, it is reducing its outlook for full year 2009 earnings per share, after adjusting for special items, to a range of 60 cents to 90 cents a share. The prior guidance was for $1.35 to $1.75 per share. Chief Financial Officer David Drillock said, "The continuing weak demand in coating resins plus the recent demand slowdown mentioned earlier in engineered materials lead us to expect a modest loss for the second quarter before special items."

BMC Software reaffirms full-year profit view(7:10 am ET)
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- BMC Software Inc. (BMC: news, chart, profile) said Tuesday that it will reaffirm its previous fiscal-year guidance at the company's investor day in New York. The maker of business software said it expects to report adjusted earnings of $2.37 to $2.47 a share, excluding special items totaling about 60 cents to 64 cents. It also said it sees cash flow from operations of $600 million to $650 million. Shares of BMC ended Monday at $33.73.