Stocks in focus for Wednesday: J.P. Morgan Chase, IBM, Sallie Mae, Wells Fargo

Apr.15, 2008 in Market Outlook

J.P. Morgan Chase, IBM, Sallie Mae, Wells Fargo

By MarketWatch

Last Update: 6:55 PM ET Apr 15, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Among the companies whose shares are expected to
see active trade in Wednesday’s session are J.P. Morgan Chase, IBM, Sallie Mae,
and Wells Fargo.

J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM), which recently bought a stake in Bear Stearns, is
projected to report first-quarter earnings of 61 cents a share, according to
analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.

Technology giant and Dow heavyweight International Business Machines (IBM) is
expected to report earnings of $1.44 a share in the first quarter.

Student lending giant Sallie Mae (SLM) is forecast to post earnings of 40 cents a
share in the first quarter.

Wells Fargo (WFC), a diversified financial services company, is likely to report
earnings of 57 cents a share in the first quarter.

Online auctioneering firm eBay (EBAY) is estimated post first-quarter earnings of
37 cents a share.

Coca-Cola Co. (KO), the world’s largest beverage company, is forecast to post
earnings of 63 cents a share in the first quarter.

AMB Property Corp. (AMB), a global developer and industrial real estate company,
is expected to report first-quarter earning of 47 cents a share.

Biopharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences (GILD) is estimated to post earnings of 49
cents a share in the first quarter.

Leggett & Platt (LEG), an engineered product maker, is likely to post
first-quarter earnings of 22 cents a share.

Abbott (ABT), a health care company, is expected to report earnings of 62 cents a
share in the first quarter.

After Tuesday’s closing bell, Intel Corp. (INTC) reported its first quarter net
income slid to $1.44 billion, or 25 cents a share, compared with profit of $1.64
billion, or 28 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $9.7
billion, up from $8.85 billion the previous year. The company said the quarter
included charges of 4 cents a share related to restructuring and asset
impairment. Intel said it expects second-quarter revenue of between $9 billion
and $9.6 billion. See full story
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Watch list

CSX Corp. (CSX) reported a first-quarter profit of $351 million, or 85 cents a
share, up from $240 million, or 52 cents a share, a year earlier. The railroad
posted revenue of $2.7 billion, up 12% from the same quarter last year. Analysts
were looking for a profit of 71 cents a share with sales of $2.6 billion.

CV Therapeutics Inc. (CVTX) said TPG-Axon Capital agreed to pay it up to $185
million in exchange for rights to half of its royalty on North American sales of
Lexiscan, or regadenoson, injection. The biopharmaceutical company said it
received $175 million when the deal closed and could receive a potential future
milestone payment of $10 million.

Genentech’s (DNA) board approved increasing the share buyback program to 150
million shares from 100 million shares and boosting the total value of shares to
be repurchased to $10 billion from $8 billion. Genentech plans to use the
repurchased stock to offset dilution from the issuance of shares in connection
with its employee stock plans.

J.M. Smucker Co.’s (SJM) board increased the quarterly dividend to 32 cents from
30 cents. The dividend is payable on June 2 to shareholders of record as of May
16.

Linear Technology Corp. (LLTC) said its fiscal third-quarter profit rose to $99.2
million, or 44 cents a share, from $98.6 million, or 32 cents a share, in the
year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, the company would have reported a
profit of 49 cents a share for the latest quarter. Revenue rose to $297.9 million
from $255 million a year ago. Analysts had estimated a quarterly profit of 43
cents a share on revenue of $297.7 million.

Merck (MRK) company employees authored clinical trial manuscripts on the
arthritis pain drug Vioxx but attributed the papers to academically affiliated
investigators, according the Journal of the American Medical Association. Merck
responded that many of the comments in the article are “false, misleading or lack
context.” Vioxx was pulled from the market in 2004 after some long-term users
developed heart problems.

Office Depot Inc. (ODP) said it continues to press ahead with its turnaround plan
after Standard & Poor’s cut the retailer’s corporate credit rating to junk. The
office-supply retail chain said it believes it has identified “key” growth and
margin-expansion initiatives and the company is on track to improve operating
margins by 300 basis points by the end of 2010. The company said it expects
first-quarter results to show sequential improvements.

Seagate Technology (STX) reported a third-quarter profit of $344 million, or 65
cents a share, on revenue of $3.1 billion. During the same period a year ago,
Seagate earned $212 million, or 37 cents a share, on $2.8 billion in sales.
Excluding one-time items, Seagate would have earned $369 million, or 70 cents a
share. Analysts had forecast Seagate to earn 73 cents a share on $3.26 billion in
revenue. The No. 1 maker of hard-disk drives used in computers and other
electronic products said that for its fourth quarter, it expects to earn between
37 cents and 41 cents a share on sales in a range of $2.85 billion to $3 billion.
See full story
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Washington Mutual Inc. (WM) reported a big first-quarter net loss as the lender
suffered from the mortgage meltdown and broader credit crunch. The company lost
$1.14 billion, or $1.40 a share, in the period, compared with net income of $784
million, or 86 cents a share, during the first quarter of 2007. The company also
said it closed a previously announced deal to raise $7 billion from a group of
investors led by private-equity firm Texas Pacific Group. See full story
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