E*Trade Shares Rise

E*Trade Financial(ETFC Quote) rebounded late Wednesday after the online broker reported slightly better earnings in the second quarter.

The New York-based online brokerage firm made $159 million, or 37 cents a share, compared with $156 million, or 36 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Excluding certain items, earnings were 42 cents a share in the latest quarter. Revenue rose 9% to $664 million.

Analysts expected E*Trade to earn 40 cents a share.

E*Trade also narrowed its 2007 earnings guidance to a range of $1.58 to $1.72 a share from a previous range of $1.55 to $1.75.

After closing down 2% on Wednesday, the stock rose 64 cents to $21.10 after the market closed.

E*Trade defines itself as more than just an online broker. It provides trading, investing, banking and lending for both retail and institutional customers. It is also expanding its reach beyond the U.S. and into Europe.

The average daily retail trade inched higher by 2% to 169,122 trades, but the average commission per trade actually fell by 2% to $12.03, the firm said.

The company said retail client assets increased to a record $213 billion.

"Our second quarter results demonstrate the strategic and economic success we have achieved through investments in product, service and marketing over the past several years," said CEO Mitch Caplan. "We delivered record performance in the quarter while improving the overall quality of revenue and earnings through continued growth and engagement led by our high-value, target segment accounts."

Last week, Charles Schwab(SCHW Quote) and TD Ameritrade(AMTD Quote) reported quarterly numbers.