Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, UnitedHealth Profit Climb, Netflix Surges 16%

Mukesh Buch
16 Apr, 2015
New York City

Blackstone net more than doubled. Citigroup profit climbed 23% but revenues dropped 3%. Goldman Sachs net soared 41% on 14% increase in revenues. Netflix net tumbled 55% but revenues jumped 24%. UnitedHealth revenues and net surged 13%.

[R]1:45 PM New York – Blackstone net more than doubled. Citigroup profit climbed 23% but revenues dropped 3%. Goldman Sachs net soared 41% on 14% increase in revenues. Netflix net tumbled 55% but revenues jumped 24%. UnitedHealth revenues and net surged 13%.[/R]

Tollbooth Index slid 0.2% or 19.10 to 10,671.12.

Earnings Review

Blackstone Group LP ((BX)) jumped 2.2% or 88 cents to $41.90 after the financial advisory services provider said total revenues in the first-quarter ending in March soared 63% to $2.49 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter surged 137% to $629.4 million or $1 per diluted share compared to $265.6 million or 44 cents from the same quarter last year.

Citigroup Inc ((C)) gained 1.7% or 91 cents to $54.12 after the bank and financial services provider reported revenues in the first-quarter ending in March dropped 2.5% to $19.7 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter climbed 23.1% to $4.8 billion or $1.51 per diluted share compared to $3.9 billion or $1.23 from the same quarter last year.

The bank said group deposits in the quarter declined 7% to $900 billion and loans plunged 7% to $621 billion.

Citi Holdings deposits declined 80%, primarily driven by the reclassification of $21 billion and the pending agreement to sell bank''s retail banking business in Japan.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc ((GS)) fell 58 cents to $200.52 after the bank and brokerage group said net revenues in the first-quarter ending in March climbed 14% to $10.62 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter soared 41% to $2.75 billion or $5.94 per diluted share compared to $1.95 billion or $4.02 from the same quarter last year.

W W Grainger Inc ((GWW)) gained 1% or $2.44 to $244.26 after the industrial machinery and equipment distributor stated revenues in the first-quarter ending in March increased 2.5% to $2.44 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter declined 3% to $211 million compared to $217 million and diluted earnings per share were flat at $3.07 from the same quarter last year.

The company lowered its revenues forecast for the fiscal 2015 in the range of 1% to 4% from earlier estimate between 3% and 7% and revised its earnings per share guidance between $12.25 and $12.95 from previous forecasted range between $12.60 and $13.60.

The company said that its board had approved plan to buy back shares of up to $3 billion in the next three years.

Netflix, Inc ((NFLX)) surged 16.3% or $77.14 to $551.02 after the video-streaming service provider said revenues in the first-quarter ending in March jumped 23.6% to $1.57 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 55.4% to $23.7 million or 38 cents per diluted share compared to $53.1 million or 86 cents from the same quarter last year.

During the quarter, Netflix added about 2.3 million customers in the U.S. and 2.6 million internationally, by the end of the quarter total subscribers reached to 62.3 million.

The company said it added a record 4.9 million new members globally in the first quarter, against its forecast of 4.1 million.

For the second quarter, the company forecasted earnings per share of about 26 cents.

Philip Morris International Inc ((PM)) climbed 8.3% or $6.49 to $84.62 after the tobacco products maker reported revenues in the first-quarter ending in March dropped 2.4% to $17.35 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter declined 5.3% to $1.8 billion or $1.16 per diluted share compared to $1.9 billion or $1.18 from the same quarter last year.

For the year, the company raised its earnings per share guidance to a range of $4.32 to $4.42 from earlier forecasted range of $4.27 to $4.37 per share.

UnitedHealth Group Inc ((UNH)) jumped 3.4% or $3.99 to $121.30 after the diversified health care company said revenues in the first-quarter ending in March soared 13% to $35.76 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter surged 13% to $1.41 billion or $1.46 per diluted share compared to $1.1 billion or $1.10 from the same quarter last year.

The company forecasted revenues for the year of about $143 billion, an increase of $2 billion from the previous outlook.

Earnings per share in the range of $6.15 to $6.30 per share from the earlier estimated range of $6 to $6.25 per share.