Stocks in focus for Monday; Grainger, Philips, Eaton

Apr.12, 2008 in Market Outlook

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Among the companies whose shares are expected to
see active trade in Monday’s session are W.W. Grainger Inc., Philips Electronics
NV and Eaton Corp.

W.W. Grainger (GWW) is expected to report first-quarter earnings of $1.37 a
share, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.

Philips (PHG) is forecast to post earnings of 40 cents a U.S. share in the first
quarter.

Eaton (ETN) is estimated to report a profit of $1.64 a share in the first
quarter.

Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc. (ELS) is expected to report funds from
operations of $1.06 a share in the first quarter.

After Friday’s closing bell, AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings
Inc. (AAI), said its balance sheet is “ample” to fund operations, in light of the
company’s stock volatility. Shares of AirTran, which closed down 34.6% at $4.13,
rebounded 29.3% to $5.34 in after-hours activity. AirTran said it has $358
million in cash and investments on its balance sheet. “AirTran Airways is one of
the strongest low-cost carriers operating today,” said Bob Fornaro, AirTran
president and chief executive, in a statement. AirTran made the statement
following a recent string of low-cost airlines that have folded because of high
fuel prices.

Watch list

AMR Corp. (AMR) said it will cancel about 200 American Airlines flights Saturday
due to ongoing safety inspections on its fleet of MD-80 jets. The company said it
plans to resume a normal schedule on Sunday. AMR said that about 231 of its 300
MD-80s had been inspected and returned to service by late Friday, and that it
will keep about 25% of its MD-80 fleet grounded early Saturday. AMR said it
expects all affected planes in service by late Saturday afternoon.

AT&T Inc. (T) secured a $3 billion revolving credit agreement with several banks,
the telecommunications company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission
filing. The funds, if drawn, will be used for general corporate purposes, which
may include repayment of maturing commercial paper, said AT&T.
Citigroup Inc. (C) will not be selling debt from EMI Group in a planned sale of
other debt because of concerns over the music company’s restructuring, The Wall
Street Journal reported on its Web site, citing people familiar with the
situation. Citigroup was part of a group of banks that helped London
private-equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd. acquire EMI for about $4.9
billion.

Lam Research Corp.’s (LRCX) may have its BB- corporate credit rating hiked by
Standard & Poor’s because of stable operating performance during recent periods.

Skywest Inc. (SKYW) said March traffic rose 2.2% to 1.56 billion revenue
passenger miles from 1.53 billion in the prior-year period. The St. George, Utah,
carrier which operates SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, said
combined load factor was 79.2%, down 0.6 percentage points. Capacity rose 3% to
1.97 billion available seat miles from 1.91 billion last year.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. said it started its tender offer for outstanding shares
of Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (MLNM) Takeda said the tender offer is
scheduled to end on May 8. On Thursday, Takeda offered $25 a share, or about $8.8
billion, for Millennium.

Windstream Corp. (WIN) had its rating outlook raised to stable from negative by
Standard & Poor’s because of success in mitigating revenue losses related to its
declining voice business with growth in Internet and data revenues. S&P affirmed
its BB+ corporate credit rating on Windstream.

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