Investors Bail as FedEx Delivers Confusion

Despite uncharacteristically vocal management protests, FedEx(FDX Quote) shares plunged Tuesday, so much so that several analysts now say the issue is looking undervalued.

Investors bailed from FedEx after the package deliverycompany said it would miss analyst consensus estimates for its fiscal first quarter, ended Aug. 31. That drowned out strong fourth-quarter numbers, which beat analyst estimates by a penny, as well as a pledge to meet full-year 2003 guidance.

Company executives protested investors' unforgiving reaction to its first quarter outlook on a conference call and on CNBC Tuesday morning, saying the company did not "warn," as it hadn't offered any prior first-quarter guidance. They also said fewer than half of the analysts who cover the company provide estimates for Thomson Financial, skewing the consensus, and that the company left its full-year numbers intact. ...