Just When You Thought The Big Gains Were Over

News: Analysis & Commentary: CORPORATE PROFITS

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT THE BIG GAINS WERE OVER

Wall Street leads an earnings rise that could approach 20%

Strong quarter or weak? In BUSINESS WEEK's flash report on third-quarter profits at 80 companies, the answer is decidedly strong, with earnings up 17% on a 10% sales jump. More than 4% of that profit bump came from Texas Instruments and TRW, both coming back from losses a year before. Financial services and Wall Street firms also showed strength, including Merrill Lynch (+49%), Travelers Group (+39%), and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities (+114%). Among the trouble spots: Eastman Kodak (-43%) preannounced its problems, while Chrysler and General Motors both posted subpar performances. That made Ford Motor the winner among the Big Three auto makers, with a 64% profit gain.Return to top

TABLE

Third-Quarter Profits

CURRENT QTR. QTR. PROFITS

SALES

(MILLIONS) % CHG.(MILLIONS) % CHG.

INDUSTRIALS 177,584.2 +5 9,018.8 +9

ABBOTT LABORATORIES 2,865.2 +8 471.4 +12

AK STEEL HOLDING 598.6 +7 37.0 -7

ALCOA 3,357.5 +4 228.1 +233

ARMSTRONG WORLD INDUSTRIES 575.6 +2 59.0 +33

ARVIN INDUSTRIES 554.0 -1 13.6 +64

BOISE CASCADE 1,442.3 +6 -6.2 NM

BURLINGTON RESOURCES 321.0 -7 59.0 0

CATERPILLAR 4,600.0 +14 385.0 +24

CHRYSLER 13,176.0 -8 441.0 -35

COCA-COLA ENTERPRISES 3,183.0 +46 112.0 +187

COLTEC INDUSTRIES 324.5 +13 23.3 +41

CONAGRA* 6,140.4 0 110.1 +15

CORNING 1,047.6 +14 112.3 +18

CPC INTERNATIONAL 2,023.5 0 146.4 +4

EASTMAN KODAK 3,773.0 -9 232.0 -43

FORD MOTOR 36,096.0 +6 1,125.0 +64

GENERAL DYNAMICS 988.0 +15 82.0 +21

GENERAL ELECTRIC 21,991.0 +9 2,014.0 +13

GENERAL MOTORS 41,890.0 +7 1,067.0 -16

GEORGIA-PACIFIC 3,373.0 -2 86.0 -13

HARLEY-DAVIDSON 444.2 +15 41.1 +24

INTERNATIONAL PAPER 5,100.0 0 102.0 -8

JOHNSON & JOHNSON 5,586.0 +3 855.0 +14

NIKE* 2,766.1 +21 253.1 +12

PFIZER 3,094.0 +10 596.0 +16

PHELPS DODGE 961.7 +13 104.2 +30

TEXTRON 2,508.0 +12 138.0 +15

TRW 2,521.1 +9 108.7 NM

VF 1,416.9 +3 108.7 +19

WEYERHAEUSER 2,823.0 -1 114.0 -5

WHIRLPOOL 2,043.0 -5 -200.0 NM

SERVICES 68,832.9 +25 6,286.7 +32

AMR 4,798.0 +5 323.0 +15

APL 653.2 +1 11.4 -60

AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING* 1,038.5 +14 105.4 +13

BANKAMERICA NA NA 819.0 +20

BARNETT BANKS NA NA 122.6 -3

BEAR STEARNS* 1,813.0 +47 161.6 +49

BOISE CASCADE OFFICE PRODUCTS 679.9 +34 12.5 +7

CALIBER SYSTEMS 592.5 -6 32.4 NM

COSTCO*** 6,915.9 +12 116.7 +35

CRESTAR FINANCIAL NA NA 79.5 +65

DONALDSON, LUFKIN & JENRETTE 1,268.5 +65 120.3 +114

DOW JONES 636.3 +7 26.9 -34

ENRON 5,806.0 +80 134.0 +9

FEDERAL EXPRESS* 3,297.2 +22 143.3 +131

FIRST CHICAGO NBD NA NA 385.0 +8

FOOD LION 2,366.9 +11 1.2 -98

GANNETT 1,146.1 +5 152.5 +37

GRAINGER (W. W.) 1,066.9 +18 56.5 +8

HERTZ 1,102.1 +4 93.4 +26

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL 2,676.0 +21 67.0 +16

MERRILL LYNCH 8,146.0 +31 493.0 +49

MORGAN STANLEY, DEAN WITTER 7,257.0 +31 678.0 +51

MORGAN (J. P.) NA NA 396.0 +43

NATIONSBANK NA NA 788.0 +26

PIER 1 IMPORTS** 258.1 +12 22.0 +93

ROADWAY EXPRESS 642.2 +19 10.4 +127

SAFEWAY 5,371.4 +36 150.0 +42

SERVICE MERCHANDISE 656.1 -11 -22.4 NM

TEMPLE-INLAND 938.4 +9 12.6 -61

TIME WARNER 3,231.0 +50 -28.0 NM

TRAVELERS GROUP 6,475.6 +15 822.8 +39

TECHNOLOGY 30,588.4 +8 2,454.9 +33

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 596.6 +31 -31.7 NM

APPLE COMPUTER*** 1,614.0 -30 -161.0 NM

ASCEND COMMUNICATIONS 270.4 +9 40.1 -11

BAY NETWORKS* 601.3 +15 41.3 +635

EATON 1,931.0 +12 54.0 -36

GENENTECH 231.3 -2 32.1 -37

HONEYWELL 2,038.7 +13 118.9 +18

HUGHES ELECTRONICS 4,112.7 +8 240.2 -5

INTEL 6,155.0 +20 1,574.0 +20

MOTOROLA 7,353.0 +13 266.0 +29

NCR 1,563.0 -6 -9.0 NM

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS 2,500.0 +4 239.0 NM

UNISYS 1,621.4 -1 50.9 +258

UTILITIES & TELECOM 15,574.4 +15 1,644.1 -2

AMERITECH 4,006.0 +8 613.0 +18

COLUMBIA GAS SYSTEM 995.0 +121 0.1 NM

GTE 5,940.0 +11 756.0 0

ILLINOVA 841.8 +76 63.3 -30

SPRINT 3,791.6 +8 211.7 -33

REPORTED

(8/19) EPS DIFF.

INDUSTRIALS 0.66 0.70 +0.04

ABBOTT LABORATORIES 0.61 0.61 --

AK STEEL HOLDING 1.12 1.19 +0.07

ALCOA 1.24 1.32 +0.08

ARMSTRONG WORLD INDUSTRIES 1.64 1.44 -0.20

ARVIN INDUSTRIES 0.51 0.58 +0.07

BOISE CASCADE -0.23 -0.23 --

BURLINGTON RESOURCES 0.41 0.47 +0.06

CATERPILLAR 0.91 1.03 +0.12

CHRYSLER 0.62 0.65 +0.03

COCA-COLA ENTERPRISES 0.16 0.29 +0.13

COLTEC INDUSTRIES 0.34 0.35 +0.01

CONAGRA* 0.24 0.24 --

CORNING 0.57 0.49 -0.08

CPC INTERNATIONAL 1.08 1.00 -0.08

EASTMAN KODAK 1.22 0.71 -0.51

FORD MOTOR 0.76 0.90 +0.14

GENERAL DYNAMICS 1.28 1.30 +0.02

GENERAL ELECTRIC 0.61 0.62 +0.01

GENERAL MOTORS 1.17 1.35 +0.18

GEORGIA-PACIFIC 0.53 0.94 +0.41

HARLEY-DAVIDSON 0.26 0.27 +0.01

INTERNATIONAL PAPER 0.31 0.34 +0.03

JOHNSON & JOHNSON 0.64 0.64 --

NIKE* 0.84 0.85 +0.01

PFIZER 0.44 0.46 +0.02

PHELPS DODGE 1.89 1.72 -0.17

TEXTRON 0.81 0.81 --

TRW 0.86 0.85 -0.01

VF 1.52 1.72 +0.20

WEYERHAEUSER 0.52 0.57 +0.05

WHIRLPOOL 0.85 0.82 * -0.03

SERVICES 0.77 0.84 +0.07

AMR 3.35 3.55 +0.20

APL 0.60 0.44 -0.16

AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING* 0.48 0.36 -0.12

BANKAMERICA 1.09 1.11 +0.02

BARNETT BANKS 0.82 0.62 -0.20

BEAR STEARNS* 1.00 1.11 +0.11

BOISE CASCADE OFFICE PRODUCTS 0.23 0.20 -0.03

CALIBER SYSTEMS 0.62 0.83 +0.21

COSTCO*** 0.51 0.54 +0.03

CRESTAR FINANCIAL 0.71 0.71 --

DONALDSON, LUFKIN & JENRETTE 1.10 1.77 +0.67

DOW JONES 0.20 0.28 +0.08

ENRON 0.46 0.44 -0.02

FEDERAL EXPRESS* 0.73 1.22 +0.49

FIRST CHICAGO NBD 1.25 1.26 +0.01

FOOD LION 0.12 0.00 -0.12

GANNETT 0.48 0.54 +0.06

GRAINGER (W. W.) 1.18 1.12 -0.06

HERTZ 0.85 0.86 +0.01

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL 0.48 0.49 +0.01

MERRILL LYNCH 1.10 1.24 +0.14

MORGAN STANLEY, DEAN WITTER 0.89 1.09 +0.20

MORGAN (J. P.) 1.95 1.96 +0.01

NATIONSBANK 1.08 1.08 --

PIER 1 IMPORTS** 0.21 0.30 +0.09

ROADWAY EXPRESS 0.44 0.50 +0.06

SAFEWAY 0.58 0.60 +0.02

SERVICE MERCHANDISE -0.11 -0.22 -0.11

TEMPLE-INLAND 0.33 0.22 -0.11

TIME WARNER -0.18 -0.19 -0.01

TRAVELERS GROUP 0.98 1.24 +0.26

TECHNOLOGY 0.66 0.60 -0.06

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 0.32 -0.22 -0.54

APPLE COMPUTER*** -0.12 -0.19 ** -0.07

ASCEND COMMUNICATIONS 0.35 0.20 -0.15

BAY NETWORKS* 0.16 0.19 +0.03

EATON 1.39 0.70 -0.69

GENENTECH 0.24 0.25 +0.01

HONEYWELL 0.93 0.93 --

HUGHES ELECTRONICS 0.51 0.60 +0.09

INTEL 0.91 0.88 -0.03

MOTOROLA 0.62 0.44 -0.18

NCR 0.00 -0.09 -0.09

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS 1.12 1.20 +0.08

UNISYS 0.12 0.14 +0.02

UTILITIES & TELECOM 0.79 0.79 --

AMERITECH 1.04 1.12 +0.08

COLUMBIA GAS SYSTEM -0.08 0.00 +0.08

GTE 0.76 0.79 +0.03

ILLINOVA 1.27 0.87 -0.40

SPRINT 0.59 0.49 -0.10

*First-quarter ** Second-quarter results *** Fourth-quarter results NM = not

meaningful NA = not available *EPS adjusted for special items

DATA: STANDARD & POOR'S COMPUSTAT, A DIVISION OF THE McGRAW-HILL COS. EARNINGS

ESTIMATE DATA PROVIDED BY I/B/E/S INTERNATIONAL INC.,

NEW YORK, NY. I/B/E/S IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF I/B/E/S INTERNATIONAL INC.

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