Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s third- quarter earnings more than tripled from the depths of the financial crisis as income from the company’s trading operations offset a drop in its investment-banking business.
Goldman earned $3.03 billion, or $5.25 a share, easily beating analysts’ expectations for a profit of $4.24 a share. The bank earned $810 million, or $1.81 a share, during its fiscal third quarter last year, which ended in August.
Goldman also had $5.35 billion in compensation expenses during the July-September period.
Citigroup provided a sobering reminder Thursday that the economy is still struggling, reporting that its third-quarter results were weighed down by billions of dollars in failed loans.
The bank reported a $101 million profit before accounting for $288 million in preferred stock dividends and the debt-exchange offer that gave the government a 34 percent stake in the bank. Including those items, the New York-based bank reported a $3.24 billion loss.
Google Inc. shifted into a higher gear in the third quarter and began to leave the recession behind as the 11-year-old Internet search leader recorded its highest profit ever.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said it earned $1.64 billion, or $5.13 a share, in the three months ended in September. That represented a 27 percent increase from $1.29 billion, or $4.06 a share, at the same time last year. Revenue for the three months ending in September climbed 7 percent to $5.94 billion.
IBM Corp. has jacked up its profit guidance for the second time this year, a sign of the company’s confidence that it can uncork more profit from its business despite falling sales.
In IBM’s third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, net income was $3.2 billion, or $2.40 a share, ahead of analysts’ expectation for $2.38 a share. In the same period last year, IBM’s profit was $2.8 billion, or $2.04 a share. Sales were $23.6 billion.
Harley-Davidson Inc. said Thursday that its third-quarter profit slid 84 percent on fewer motorcycle shipments and recession-related difficulties in getting loans for its customers.
The motorcycle manufacturer also plans to stop making Buell motorcycle products and will sell its MV Agusta division.
Harley-Davidson earned $26.5 million, or 11 cents a share, for the period ended Sept. 27. That’s down from $166.5 million, or 71 cents a share, a year ago. Sales dropped 21 percent to $1.12 billion.
Safeway Stores said its third- quarter profit fell 35 percent because of price-cutting and slower sales at its grocery stores. The grocer said Thursday that it earned $128.8 million, or 31 cents a share, down from $199.7 million, or 46 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue declined 7 percent to $9.46 billion.
