Tuesday: Nike Earnings Fall Short of Lowered Estimates

Compiled by John J. Edwards III
Staff Reporter

No murmurings escaped the Fed meeting in Washington on Tuesday, and none are expected as the meeting concludes Wednesday. But the markets will muddle on, reacting in part to these post-close items:

Nike (NKE Quote) continued to tread a disappointing path, reporting fourth-quarter earnings of 52 cents per share versus 46 cents a year earlier. The 17-analyst First Call consensus estimate was 53 cents, however. Estimates were trimmed from 69 cents after Nike warned May 29 of a coming shortfall. Nike shares dipped to 58 after hours from their close at 58 13/16, Reuters reported.

Pennzoil (PZL Quote) rejected an $84-per-share hostile bid by Union Pacific Resources (UPR Quote). "The bid is inadequate," Chairman James Pate reportedly said in a conference call. Pennzoil said it wouldn't seek a "white knight" rescuer and would endeavor to go it alone.

IKOS Systems (IKOS Quote) said it expects to report third-quarter operating earnings of 22 cents per share, compared with the five-analyst First Call expectation of 29 cents. The company earned 20 cents a year ago.

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (GAP Quote) -- better known as A&P -- reported first-quarter earnings of 60 cents per share. That's up from the year-ago 57 cents but a penny shy of the seven-analyst First Call view.

Lucent Technologies (LU Quote) filed a patent infringement suit against Acer, charging that the Taiwanese company violated eight patents relating to semiconductor manufacturing technologies, speech and video coding and computer display technologies.

Network General (NETG Quote) said it expects to report first-quarter earnings of 14 cents to 16 cents per share, short of the five-analyst First Call estimate of 18 cents. The company earned 19 cents a year earlier.

Mesa (MXP Quote) and Parker & Parsley Petroleum (PDP Quote) said they plan to complete their pending $4.2 billion merger after a special meeting Aug. 7 in Dallas.

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