U.S. Stocks Gain; Motorola Net Surges

Arthi Gupta
29 Jul, 2010
New York City

U.S. stocks trade higher after positive global earnings trends. U.S. weekly jobless claims fall 11,000 to 457,000. BP agrees to pay $60 million in advance payments in August. Avis Budget submits bid for Dollar Thrifty. AstraZeneca gets regulatory approval for Brilinta.

[R]9:35 AM New York – U.S. stocks trade higher after positive global earnings trends. U.S. weekly jobless claims fall 11,000 to 457,000. BP agrees to pay $60 million in advance payments in August. Avis Budget submits bid for Dollar Thrifty. AstraZeneca gets regulatory approval for Brilinta.[/R]

U.S. and European markets advance after better-than-estimated earnings. Asian markets traded mixed.

Motorola and Colgate-Palmolive second quarter profit beat estimates.

Motorola Inc., the mobile phone maker earnings surged reflecting strong sales of smartphones. The company reported net sales for the quarter declined 2% to $5.41 billion from $5.50 billion in the same quarter last year. Net earnings in the quarter soared 523% to $162 million or $0.07 per share compared to net earnings of $26 million or $0.01 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. reported today a higher profit for its second quarter, helped by increased sales and volumes. Worldwide quarterly sales rose 2% to $3.81 billion from $3.75 billion in the previous year quarter. Net income increased 7% to $603 million or $1.17 from $562 million or $1.07 a year ago.

Sanofi-Aventis SA, the French pharmaceutical company second quarter net soared 61.2% despite price cuts in Europe and continued competition from generics.

Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. reported a profit for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 compared to a loss last year, as it sold more televisions and personal computers in the quarter. The company also raised its fiscal year earnings outlook and maintained its revenue guidance.

Sales and operating revenue grew 3.8% to 1.66 trillion yen or $18.66 billion, from 1.60 trillion yen last year.

Siemens AG, the German-based electronics and electrical engineering company reported that its third-quarter profit increased nearly 12% from last year, as revenues improved and the company saw strong order growth.

The U.S. Labor Department released a report today showing a modest decrease in initial jobless claims in the week ended July 24th. The report showed that jobless claims dropped to 457,000 from the previous week''s revised figure of 468,000.

BP estimates it will pay at least $60 million in advance payments in August to claimants across the Gulf Coast who have lost income or net profit due to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The company will start making the advance payments by the end of this week and claimants will receive their check about 30 days after they received their July payment.

To date, BP paid more than $237 million to individuals and businesses for loss of income or net profits since May.

Avis Budget Group, Inc. sent a letter to the Board of Directors of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. stating that it continues to believe that a combination with Avis Budget presents a compelling opportunity for its respective stakeholders.

The company said its offer is for $46.50 per share of Dollar Thrifty common stock consisting of $39.25 in cash and 0.6543 shares of Avis Budget stock. The company further stated the cash portion of its offer would be funded through a combination of available cash and fully committed financing.

Citigroup and Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated are acting as financial advisors to Avis Budget Group, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Arnold & Porter LLP are acting as legal counsel.

AstraZeneca Plc reported today the U.S. endorsement of its investigational blood clot treatment drug Brilinta.

The company announced that an Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted 7 to 1 to recommend the FDA to approve Brilinta (ticagrelor) for acute coronary syndromes, such as chest pains and heart attacks.

The review by the Advisory Committee, part of the FDA''s evaluation of the New Drug Application submitted for ticagrelor in the latter part of last year, is based on the results of the large, head-to-head patient outcomes study, the company said.