U.S. Movers: 3M, Allstate, Las Vegas Sands, Visa

Bikram Pandey
28 Oct, 2010
New York City

PMI Group dropped 9% on larger than expected loss. Symantec Corp gained on higher sales forecast. Teradyne dropped 8% after earnings missed expectations. Visa Inc Sales surged. Las Vegas Sands Corp reported better than expected adjusted earnings.

[R]1:00 PM New York – PMI Group dropped 9% on larger than expected loss. Symantec Corp gained on higher sales forecast. Teradyne dropped 8% after earnings missed expectations. Visa Inc Sales surged. Las Vegas Sands Corp reported better than expected adjusted earnings.[/R]

Of the stocks in the Dow, 25 increased, 5 decreased and none were unchanged.

Of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Merck & Co., Inc. led the gainers with a rise of 1.43% followed by increase in Exxon Mobil Corporation of 1.31%, in American Express Company of 1.26%, in AT&T Inc. of 0.99%, in Pfizer Inc. 0.98%.

3M Company led the decliners with a fall of 4.39% followed by decline in Caterpillar Inc. of 0.56%, in Cisco Systems, Inc. of 0.56%, in Intel Corporation of 0.25, International Business Machines Corporation of 0.13%.

Other Movers

ABB Ltd. ((ABB)) declined 3.8% or 84 cent to $21.00 after the Switzerland based power and automation maker said third quarter total revenues fell to $7,903 million from $7910 billion in the same quarter last year. Net earnings in the quarter plunged $774 million or 34 cent per diluted share, compared to $1,034 million or 45 cents per share in the prior-year quarter,

AstraZeneca PLC ((AZN)) decreased 1.7% or 89 cent to $50.04 after the UK based biopharmaceutical company reported third quarter revenue decreased to $7,898 million from $8,200 million from a year ago. Net income in the quarter declined to $1,828 million or $1.07 per diluted share, compared to $2,360 million or $1.46 per diluted share in the same quarter of last year.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. ((AKAM)) gained 3% or $1.52 to $51.91 after the provider of Internet applications and content delivery solutions said third quarter revenue increased 23% to $253.6 million from $206.5 million in the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter increased 21% to $39.7 million or 21 cents per diluted share, compared to $32.7 million or 18 cents per share in the prior-year quarter.

Ball Corporation ((BLL)) rose 0.2% or 13 cent to $60.93 after the metal and plastic packaging supplier said third quarter total revenue increased 12% to $2,035.0 million from $1,812.3 billion a year ago period. Net income in the quarter gained 11% to $127.7 million or $1.40 per diluted share compared to $115.0 million or $1.21 per share same quarter a year ago period.

Barrick Gold Corporation ((ABX)) increased 2.3% or $1.09 to $46.69 the Canada based gold producer reported third quarter sales increased to $2,775 million from $2,038 million for the same quarter a year ago period. Net income in the quarter gained to $837 million or $0.83 per diluted share compared to net loss of $5,350 million or $6.07 per share same quarter a year ago period.

Bunge Limited ((BG)) plunged 4.7% or $2.91 to $58.79 after the food chain industry reported third quarter sales increased 3% to $11.66 billion from $11.30 billion in the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter fell 9% to $212 million or $1.36 per diluted share, compared to $232 million or $1.62 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Colgate-Palmolive Company ((CL)) fell 1.4% or $1.06 to $74.44 after the consumer products company stated third quarter worldwide sales declined 1.5% to $3.94 billion, from $3.998 billion in the third quarter of 2009. Net income in the quarter increased 5% to $619 million or $1.21 per share, compared to $590 million or $1.12 per share last year.

Duke Energy Corporation ((DUK)) rose 0.06% or 1 cent to $17.88 after the energy company reported third quarter revenue surged to $3,946 million from $3,396 million from a year ago. Net income in the quarter soared to $670 million or 51 cent per diluted share, compared to $109 million or 8 cent per diluted share in the same quarter of last year.

Exxon Mobil Corporation ((XOM)) rose 0.8% or 58 cent to $66.25 after the petrochemicals company reported third quarter revenue increased to $95.30 billion from $82.26 billion in the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter surged $7.35 billion or $1.44 per diluted share, compared to $4.73 billion or $0.98 per share in the prior-year quarter.

FMC Technologies, Inc. ((FTI)) declined 3.9% or $2.87 to $70.40 after the technology solutions provider stated third quarter revenues slipped 12% to $960 million from $1.08 billion on lower subsea systems revenue. Net income in the quarter dropped 12% to $81 million or 67 cents per diluted share, compared to $91.6 million or 73 cents per share last year.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. ((LVS)) surged 7.9% or $3.27 to $44.33 after the resorts and casinos operator reported third quarter net revenue soared 67.3% to $1.91 billion, from $1.14 billion in the third quarter of 2009. Net income generated in the quarter was $168.01 million or 21 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $122.99 million or 19 cents per share in the previous year.

3M Company ((MMM)) plunged 7.2% or $6.56 to $83.81 after the diversified technology company said third quarter total revenue increased to $6,874 million from $6,193 million a year ago period. Net income in the quarter gained $1,106 million or $1.53 per diluted share compared to $957 million or $1.35 per share same quarter a year ago period.

Motorola, Inc. ((MOT)) gained 1.2% or 10 cent to $8.19 after the telecommunications company reported third quarter net sales rose 13% to $4.890 billion, from $4.336 billion in the prior-year quarter. Net earnings in the quarter surged 808% to $109 million or 5 cents per diluted share compared to $12 million or 1 cent per share, in the third quarter 2009.

Norfolk Southern Corp. ((NSC)) slumped 2.8% or $1.75 to $59.60 after the rail transportation company reported third quarter operating revenues increased 19% to $2.46 billion, from $2.06 billion last year, primarily as the result of a 15% increase in traffic volume. Net profit in the quarter increased 47% to $445 million or $1.19 per diluted share, compared to $303 million or 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Royal Dutch Shell plc ((RDSA)) rose 0.5% or $10.00 to $1,987.00 after the oil and gas company said third quarter total revenues increased to $92.74 billion from $76.03 billion in the same quarter last year. Net earnings in the quarter soared $3.46 billion or 56 cent per diluted share, compared to $3.25 billion or 53 cents per share in the prior-year quarter.

Stericycle, Inc. ((SRCL)) fell 0.7% or 54 cent to $71.40 after the waste management company said third quarter revenues gained 21.9% to $363.0 million, from $297.8 million in the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter rose 21.8% to $56.7 million or 65 cents per diluted share, compared to $46.5 million or 54 cents per share in last year period.

Symantec Corporation ((SYMC)) soared 3.7% or 59 cent to $16.39 after the security software maker said second quarter total net revenue edged higher 0.6% to $1.48 billion, compared to $1.47 billion in the same quarter last year. Net income in the quarter fell 12% to $136 million or 17 cents per diluted share, compared to $155 million or 19 cents per share for the year-ago quarter.

Thomson Reuters Corporation ((TRI)) fell 0.2% or 10 cent to $38.12 after the financial and media businesses reported third quarter revenue increased 1% to $3,256 million from $3,216 million a year ago period. Net earnings in the quarter surged to $277 million or 32 cent per diluted share compared to $167 million or 19 cent per share same quarter a year ago period.

The Allstate Corporation ((ALL)) plunged 6.5% or $2.13 to $30.35 after the insurance service provider reported third quarter revenues rose 4.3% to $7.91 billion, from $7.58 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter surged 66% to $367 million or 68 cents per diluted share, compared to $221 million or 41 cents per share in the same quarter a year ago, as revenues improved helped by lower investment losses.

Visa Inc. ((V)) slipped 3.9% or $3.18 to $76.74 after the credit card service provider said fourth quarter total operating revenue rose 13% to $2.12 billion, compared to the prior year total operating revenue of $1.88 billion. Net income in the quarter surged 51% to $774 million or $1.06 per share, compared to $514 million or 69 cents per share in the prior-year quarter.

For the full-year 2010, operating revenues increased to $8.07 billion from $6.91 billion in the year-ago and net income was $3.0 billion or $4.01 per share, compared to $2.4 billion or $3.10 per share in the previous year.

Zimmer Holdings, Inc. ((ZMH)) declined 4.3% or $2.26 to $49.63 after the surgical product maker said third quarter net sales decreased 1.1% to $965.0 million from $975.6 million in the same quarter last year. Net earnings in the quarter soared 27% to $191.1 million or 96 cent per diluted share, compared to $149.9 million or 70 cents per share in the prior-year quarter.