El Paso Beats Street, Stock Soars

Texas oil and gas producer El Paso(EP Quote) swung to a loss in the first quarter, but still beat analysts' expectations, sending shares soaring in early trading.

During the quarter, the company recorded a loss of $978 million, or $1.41 a share, compared with a profit of $200 million, or 29 cents, in the year-ago period.

But excluding $1.3 billion, or $1.92 a share, in non-cash charges, El Paso posted a profit of 47 cents, far surpassing analysts' expectation of 27 cents. ...