EARNINGS
Apple Computer Inc.: The maker of computers and entertainment products said Wednesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 27 percent, well past analyst expectations, boosted by sizz ling sales of its iPod music players and Macintosh computers. Apple earned $546 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30, or 62 cents per share. That compared with net income of $430 million, 50 cents per share, in the same period last year. Revenue for the quarter totaled $4.84 billion, a 32 percent jump from $3.68 billion last year. The average estimate by analysts was for earnings of 51 cents per share on sales of $4.66 billion, according to Thomson Financial.
Dow Jones & Co.: The financial- news publisher reported a 57 percent rise in third-quarter earnings Wednesday because of a tax gain. It also said it would buy the other half of the Factiva news database business that it doesn’t already own from Reuters Group PLC. The company beat Wall Street earnings estimates by a penny per share, but its shares still fell as it reported mixed operating results, including a 5.9 percent decrease in advertising revenue at The Wall Street Journal for September. Dow Jones, which also publishes Barron’s, Dow Jones Newswires and other publications, earned $16 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with $10.2 million, or 12 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding the tax gain and a severance charge, earnings slipped to $9.4 million, or 11 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had been expecting 10 cents per share.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.: The third-largest U.S. bank said profit rose 30 percent on record investment-banking fees and fewer provisions for bad loans. Third-quarter net income rose to $3.3 billion, or 92 cents a share, from $2.53 billion, or 71 cents, a year earlier. Shares of New York-based JPMorgan, which touched an all-time high last week, fell as much as 2.9 percent after its consumer banking and credit-card businesses slumped.
EBay Inc.: The online auction company reported Wednesday that third-quarter profit increased 10 percent from the same period last year, beating Wall Street expectations and encouraging executives to raise earnings forecasts for the year. EBay earned $280.9 million, or 20 cents per share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $254.97 million, or 18 cents per share, in the 2005 period. Revenue for the third quarter totaled $1.45 billion, up 31 percent from last year’s $1.11 billion and at the high end of what Wall Street traders had expected.
