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7:58am 07/12/01 Abbott Labs' Q2 right in line with ests. (ABT) By Tomi Kilgore
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) reported second-quarter results that were in line with expectations, and reaffirmed the consensus analyst earnings forecast for the year. The health care company reported earnings of $705 million, or 45 cents a share excluding charges, up from EPS of 44 cents in the year-earlier period. For all of 2001, the company confirmed previous EPS forecasts of $1.88. Revenue for the period rose 21.6 percent over last year to $4.1 billion. Excluding the negative impact of the strong U.S. dollar, sales would have risen 24.4 percent. The stock closed Wednesday up $1.78 at $50.18. GE profit, up 15 pct, meets analyst call
By Jon Friedman, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 8:48 AM ET July 12, 2001
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (CBS.MW) - General Electric, the largest company by market value, reported record earnings of $3.9 billion, or 39 cents a share, in the second quarter and equaled a forecast made by Wall Street analysts.
According to a poll of 11 securities analysts by First Call/Thomson Financial, GE (GE: news, msgs, alerts) was expected to report earnings of 39 cents a share, up from 34 cents a share a year ago.
GE's stock rose 64 cents to $45.25 in pre-market Instinet trading.
Revenues for the quarter fell 3 percent to $32 billion, from $32.9 billion a year ago. It marked the first time that GE's revenues declined in about a decade.
Long-cycle industrial revenues gained 22 percent and short-cycle revenues dropped 6 percent.
Earnings of GE Capital Services, one of GE's largest and most visible divisions, jumped to $1.48 billion, a 16 percent increase over last year's $1.28 billion.
GE's profit soared 19 percent in 2000 and is expected to jump by about 16 percent this year, analysts said.
GE said Chairman Jack Welch would retire on Sept. 7. He will be succeeded by GE President Jeffrey Immelt.
