Stocks to Watch: Wendy's, Disney (Update 1)

NEW YORK -- Wendy's (WEN) reported first-quarter earnings Tuesday of $12.3 million, or 3 cents a share, a turnaround from a year-earlier loss of $1.4 million.

Excluding items, earnings in the latest quarter were 1 cent a share.

The fast food chain's first-quarter sales were $519.9 million, up from $509.3 million a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, expected first-quarter profit of 3 cents a share on sales of $608 million.

Wendy's lowered its 2012 outlook for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to a range of between $320 million and $335 million. Previously, the company anticipated adjusted EBITDA of between $335 million and $345 million. Wendy's cited weaker-than-expected sales and margins.

Shares of Wendy's fell 4.52% in premarket trading Tuesday to $4.65.

---

Walt Disney (DIS) is expected by analysts Tuesday to post fiscal second-quarter earnings of 55 cents a share on revenue of $9.56 billion.

Deutsche Bank has a buy rating on the media and entertainment giant and recently raised its price target to $56 from $53.

Shares of Disney ticked up 13 cents, or 0.3%, in premarket trading Tuesday to $43.95. The stock has risen nearly 15% year to date.

---

Rackspace Hosting (RAX) shares fell more than 10% on Monday in late trading after the company's earnings per share missed by a penny.

The cloud hosting company reported first-quarter earnings of $23.2 million, or 17 cents a share, up from year-earlier earnings of $13.8 million, or 10 cents a share. Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 18 cents a share.

Rackspace said currency rates hurt the company's first-quarter revenue by $2 million.

Shares of Rackspace fell 11.92% in premarket trading Tuesday to $50.91.

---

DirecTV (DTV) is expected Tuesday to post earnings of $1.05 a share in the first quarter, according to analysts.

Shares of DirecTV rose 2.01% in premarket trading Tuesday to $48.87.

Delta Wants More Than to Be the Best Airline

---

McDonald's (MCD) said Tuesday that global same-store sales in April rose 3.3%. Last month, the fast food chain said it expected sales to rise about 4%.

McDonald's shares ticked down 11 cents, or 0.12%, to $95.40 in premarket trading Tuesday.

Vertex: Two-Drug Cystic Fibrosis Therapy Improves Lung Function

---

HSBC (HBC) posted first-quarter underlying profit Tuesday of $6.8 billion, up 25% from a year earlier and ahead of the $5.8 billion expected by analysts polled by Reuters.

HSBC is Europe's biggest bank.

HSBC shares ticked up 31 cents, or 0.69%, to $45.38 in premarket trading Tuesday.

Rising Dividends Beat Stock Buybacks

---

Electronic Arts (EA) forecast a first-quarter loss wider than than analysts' expectations.

The video game company's estimated first-quarter loss is slated to be between 40 cents a share and 45 cents a share; analysts expected a loss of 33 cents.

Shares of Electronic Arts fell 12 cents, or 0.79%, in premarket trading Tuesday to $15.01.

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



>To contact the writer of this article, click here: Joseph Woelfel

>To submit a news tip, send an email to: [e-mail].