Washington Mutual Easily Beats First-Quarter Estimates

Washington Mutual (WM Quote) easily surpassed Wall Street's earnings estimates for the latest first quarter, and the financial services company declared a 3-for-2 stock split, payable May 15 to shareholders of record April 30.

For the quarter ended March 31, the Seattle-based company earned $641 million, or $1.15 a diluted share, compared with earnings of $458.5 million, or 83 cents a diluted share, in the year-ago period. Analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.02 a share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. ...