Stocks to Watch: Coke Affirms Outlook, Lehman Tops Estimates

Author:: TSC Staff
Publish date:: Sep 25, 2001 10:29 AM EDT

Coca-Cola

remains confident it will meet earnings projections for the full year. The company also expects to report worldwide unit case volume growth of 4% to 5% in the third quarter.

Earnings Reports & Warnings

Dean Foods

(DF) - Get Report

said earnings in the fiscal first quarter dropped about 50%. The company attributed the drop to merger-related expenses. The company earned $13.1 million, or 36 cents a share, in the period. Dean earned $26.4 million, or 74 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding the merger costs, the company brought in 53 cents. Analysts had been expecting 50 cents a share, excluding merger costs.

Gucci Group

(GUC)

earned $83 million, or 82 cents a share, in the second quarter, up from $81 million, or 80 cents a share, in the year-ago period. However, the company said it now expects full-year earnings of $2.60 to $3 a share because of slowing U.S sales in the wake of the terrorist attacks earlier this month. The company had expected income of at least $3 a share.

Lehman Brothers

(LEH)

earned $309 million, or $1.14 a share, for the fiscal third quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08. The company earned $457 million, or $1.68 a share, in the year-ago period. Lehman, which had operations in the damaged area of lower Manhattan, didn't say what the financial impact of the attacks on the World Trade Center might have on the company.

Time Warner Telecom

(TWTC)

lowered its guidance and now expects to report third-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $36 million to $39 million and revenue of $170 million to $175 million. The company blamed continuing poor economic conditions.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Solectron

(SLR)

, a contract electronics manufacturer, agreed to acquire

Stream International

, a customer relationship management company. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

WorldCom

(WCOM)

confirmed that it has bid $40 million for some of the assets of

Rhythms Netconnections

. The move is an attempt to make sure WorldCom's Internet service isn't disrupted by the shutdown of the Rhythm network, a unit of Rhythms NetConnections.

Miscellaneous News

Credit Suisse Group

, said trading of the company's new American depositary shares will start on Tuesday on the

New York Stock Exchange

under the ticker symbol CSR.

After Monday's Close

AOL Time Warner

(AOL)

issued a

profit warning, blaming a weak advertising market and the effects of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. The company expects earnings to be below expectations, although full-year EBITDA growth will be about 20% and revenue growth will be 5% to 7%.