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Thursday, October 15, 1998
"The best stocks to invest in are of companies that know how to survive." -- Michael O'Higgins
Coca-Cola Reports Q3 Results
Soft drink giant Coca-Cola Co. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: KO)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: KO)") end if %> reported fiscal third quarter earnings of $0.35 per share (excluding a gain) this morning, beating last year's results by a penny and matching the Street's expectations. The results were in line with the company's previous warning of flat year-over-year earnings due to lower revenues in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, which was issued during a "top secret" meeting with analysts on Sept. 25.
As expected, global case sales volume grew by 3% and U.S. case sales volume expanded by 4% in the quarter, lower than earlier expectations of 6% to 7% growth and below last year's growth rate of 11%. Revenues were down 4.2% to $4.75 billion during the period. On a brighter note, though, Coke made its shareholders happier during the quarter by repurchasing a total of 8 million shares, bringing its year-to-date share buyback total to nearly 19 million shares.
This Morning's Earnings Announcements:
Case Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CSE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CSE)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.82 vs. $0.98 last year; Estimate: $0.82
Cummins Engine <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CUM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CUM)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.52 (excluding a charge) vs. $1.38 last year; Estimate: $0.52
Colgate Palmolive <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CL)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.66 vs. $0.58 last year; Estimate: $0.66
Georgia-Pacific Group <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: GP)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: GP)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.43 vs. $0.45 last year; Estimate: $0.45
SBC Communications <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SBC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SBC)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.53 vs. $0.45 last year; Estimate: $0.53
Unisys Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: UIS)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: UIS)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.26 vs. $0.13 last year; Estimate: $0.25
News to Go
Last Night's Earnings Announcements:
AFC Cable Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AFCX)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AFCX)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.51 vs. $0.43 last year; Estimate: $0.50
Altera Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ALTR)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ALTR)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.43 (excluding charges) vs. $0.40 last year; Estimate: $0.38
Applied Micro Circuits <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AMCC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AMCC)") end if %> -- Q2 EPS: $0.20 vs. $0.16 last year; Estimate: $0.18
Avis Rent A Car <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: AVI)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: AVI)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.83 vs. $0.45 last year; Estimate: $0.76
Documentum Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DCTM)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DCTM)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.19 (excluding charge) vs. $0.14 last year; Estimate: $0.17
Electronics for Imaging <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: EFII)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: EFII)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.31 vs. $0.43 last year; Estimate: $0.23
E*Trade Group <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: EGRP)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: EGRP)") end if %> -- Q4 EPS: $0.13 loss (excluding charges) vs. $0.15 gain last year; Estimate: $0.14 loss
Legato Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: LGTO)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: LGTO)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.20 (excluding charges) vs. $0.11 last year; Estimate: $0.17
Millipore Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: MIL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: MIL)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.06 loss (excluding charges) vs. $0.39 gain last year (excluding charges); EPS: $0.10 loss
Network Equipment Technologies <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: NWK)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: NWK)") end if %> -- Q2 EPS: $0.16 vs. $0.26 last year; Estimate: $0.15
Owens & Minor <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: OMI)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: OMI)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.20 vs. $0.16 last year; Estimate: $0.20
Rambus Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: RMBS)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: RMBS)") end if %> -- Q4 EPS: $0.07 vs. $0.04 last year; Estimate: $0.07
Rational Software <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: RATL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: RATL)") end if %> -- Q2 EPS: $0.14 vs. $0.74 loss last year; Estimate: $0.12
Raychem Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: RYC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: RYC)") end if %> -- Q1 EPS: $0.47 vs. $0.70 last year; Estimate: $0.49
Siebel Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SEBL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SEBL)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.14 vs. $0.06 last year; Estimate: $0.13
TranSwitch <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TXCC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: TXCC)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.13 vs. $0.01 last year; Estimate: $0.09
Visx Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: VISX)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: VISX)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.62 (pro forma) vs. $0.22 last year; Estimate: $0.52
VLSI Technology <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: VLSI)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: VLSI)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.03 (excluding charges and gains) vs. $0.57 loss last year; Estimate: breakeven
Xylan Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: XYLN)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: XYLN)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS: $0.22 vs. $0.10 last year; Estimate: $0.22
Earnings Announcements Today:
AlliedSignal <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: ALD)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: ALD)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS estimate: $0.58; last year: $0.50
Delta Air Lines <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: DAL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: DAL)") end if %> -- Q1 EPS estimate: $3.94; last year: $3.26
Excite <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: XCIT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: XCIT)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS estimate: $0.03 loss; last year: $0.23 loss (excluding charges)
Freddie Mac <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: FRE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: FRE)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS estimate: $0.58; last year: $0.48
Guidant <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: GDT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: GDT)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS estimate: $0.53; last year; $0.27
Sun Microsystems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SUNW)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SUNW)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS estimate: $0.49; last year: $0.41 (excluding charges)
Tricon Global Restaurants <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: YUM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: YUM)") end if %> -- Q3 EPS estimate: $0.75; last year: $0.56
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