Update on Second-Quarter Earnings Reports
Yesterday’s earnings wrapup suggested three best bets, Caterpillar, Merck and UnitedHealth Group. All three companies exceeded expectations and posted strong gains. Caterpillar rose nearly 8%, Merck was up +6% and UnitedHealth gained 3%. The Dow and Nasdaq, by contrast, were flat for the day.
The biggest earnings surprise came from McClatchy, the newspaper publisher, which saw its shares gain +37% on a surprising second-quarter profit. That’s a nice one-day gain, of course, but it comes after the company has lost functionally all of its market value. Shares remain off -84% for the past 52 weeks and are best suited for speculators, not investors.
Here’s a look at some of today’s earnings reports:
| Company (Ticker) | Estimate | Reported Earnings | Stock Price |
| Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) | $0.22 | $0.72 | +7.7% |
| DuPont (NYSE: DD) | $0.53 | $0.61 | Flat |
| Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) | $0.45 | $0.38 | +3.8% |
| Merck (NYSE: MRK) | $0.77 | $0.83 | +6.1% |
| Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) | $0.89 | $0.92 | -1.3% |
| United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) | $1.05 | $1.05 | -1.8% |
| Comerica (NYSE: CMA) | -$0.36 | -$0.10 | -10.1% |
| Hudson City Bank (Nasdaq: HCBK) | $0.25 | $0.26 | -4.5% |
| First Cash (Nasdaq: FCFS) | $0.30 | $0.38 | +0.8% |
| State Street (NYSE: STT) | $0.98 | $1.04 | -3.9% |
| United Health (NYSE: UNH) | $0.70 | $0.73 | +3.0% |
| Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) | $0.08 | $0.16 | -1.5% |
| Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) | -$1.35 | -$1.72 | -7.4% |
| United Airlines (NYSE: UAL) | -$2.66 | -$2.23 | +6.0% |
| Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) | $0.07 | $0.07 | -5.9% |
| McClatchy (NYSE: MNI) | -$0.08 | $0.50 | +37.0% |
| Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) | -$1.18 | -$1.35 | +4.8% |
Each member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average that posted results today met or exceeded expectations.
Don’t let State Street fool you: After one-time items that $1.04 profit turned into a -$7.12 loss. Apple shares rose after a better-than-expected showing, my colleague Andy Obermueller predicted shares would jump after hours, which they have. You can read the rest of Andy’s predictions about Apple here.