Pre-Market Earnings - December 18, 2008

As a global transportation and logistics enterprise that offers customers a one-stop source for global shipping, logistics and supply chain solutions, FedEx Corp. (FDX) confirmed early Thursday morning that the company’s profits for the 2Q increased, while narrowly beating analysts’ expectations. For the quarter, FedEx posted net income of $493M, or $1.58 per share, compared to profits of $479M, or $1.54 per share from a year ago, an increase of 3%. The company’s overall revenues increased as well, climbing 1%, from $9.45B to $9.54B. For the recent period, analysts were looking for the shipping company to post earnings of $1.57 per share on overall sales totals of $9.87B. In efforts to combat the weakening economy and global financial crisis, FedEx announced cost-cutting control for the upcoming year that will include reducing the CEO’s salary by 20%, along with base salaries cuts of 7.5% to 10% for other executives. Looking ahead, FDX still maintains their outlook on yearly earnings projections of $3.50 to $4.75 per share. For the upcoming 3Q and 4Q, the company expects to post earnings between $0.69 and $1.94 per share combined. With a solid earnings release, shares of FDX advanced in morning trading, adding $0.91, or 1.4%, to trade at $64.91 per share. Discover more about FedEx Corp. at Yahoo! Finance

Discover Financial Services (DFS), which operates the Discover Card, with more than 50M card members, the Discover Network with millions of merchant and cash access locations, and the Goldfish credit card business in the United Kingdom, made it known before the markets opened this morning that the company posted a profit during the 4Q as the company received a huge settlement payout from an ongoing lawsuit with Visa Inc. (V). For the period, DFS recorded earnings of $432.3M, or $0.89 per share, versus a net loss of $56.5M, or $0.12 per share from a year ago. As part of the surge in earnings, the company received an $863M payment from a $2.75B settlement from Visa for an antitrust lawsuit. Revenues, not including the settlement amount, increased 57%, from $1.26B last year to $1.98. In the meantime, analysts were looking for the financial company to post earnings of $0.13 per share for the quarter. As the company returned to profitability, investors took notice of the financial standing of the company, which pushed shares higher after the opening bell, adding more than 14%, to $1.23, to trade at $9.81 per share. Read more about Discover Financial Services at Forbes

One of the world's largest multiple-night cruise companies, Carnival Corp. (CCL), announced before the opening bell today that the company’s quarterly earnings increased over last year’s performance as higher room rates and cost-cutting measures helped offset the cost of fuel. For the 4Q, CCL booked net income of $371M, or $0.47 per share, compared to last year’s tally of $358M, or $0.44 per share, an increase of 3.6%. Revenues for the cruise line during the period advanced as well, climbing from $3.1B to $3.3B. Analysts, within the sector, were looking for Carnival to post earnings of $0.40 per share on overall revenues of $3.33B. The company also released their yearly projections as well, expecting net income of between $2.25 and $2.75 per share, down from a previously stated range of $2.50 to $3.00 per share. Analysts, meanwhile, are looking for CCL to post earnings of $2.64 per share. In morning trading, shares of CCL were down $0.15, or 0.6%, to trade at $23.34 per share. Find out more about Carnival Corp. at Reuters

As a diversified industrial company with operations in 15 countries, while offering products under such established brand names as Enerpac, Gardner Bender, Milwaukee Cylinder, Nielsen Sessions, Power-Packer, and Power Gear, Actuant Corp. (ATU), affirmed reports Thursday morning that the company’s 1Q earnings plummeted in direct correlation to impairment and restructuring charges. For the recent period, ATU recorded net income of $11.6M, or $0.19 per share, in sharp contrast to a profit of $27.43M, or $0.43 per share from a year ago, a decrease of nearly 58% in earnings. Results for the quarter were hurt by combined charges of $32.1M, or $0.26 per share. Revenues, in the meanwhile, were down as well, slipping 8%, from $415.14M to $379.98M. On average, analysts were looking for Actuant to post earnings of $0.46 per share on total sales of $395.81M. For the upcoming 2Q, ATU expects earnings to range between $0.20 and $0.28 per share on overall revenues of $335M to $355M. Analysts are looking for $0.36 per share on $385.4M for the 2Q. As for the full-year, ATU looks to post earnings between $1.60 and $1.80 per share with sales between $1.5B and $1.55B. Analysts are looking for yearly results to come in at $1.78 per share on $1.61B in sales. With a loss in quarterly earnings, shares of ATU dropped nearly 5.5% in morning trading, falling $0.94 to trade at $16.11 per share. Learn more about Actuant Corp. at Bloomberg

A leading U.S. manufacturer of motor homes, self-contained recreation vehicles used primarily in leisure travel and outdoor recreation activities, Winnebago Industries Inc. (WGO) acknowledged early this morning that the company’s 1Q revealed a loss due to consumer’s difficulties financing the purchase of big-ticket items such as RVs. For the recent quarter, WGO posted a net loss in earnings of $9.6M, or $0.33 per share, compared to a profit of $10M, or $0.34 per share from last year’s 1Q. Overall sales for the motor home producer plummeted from $215.1M to $69.4M, a drop in sales of nearly 68%. Analysts, on average, were looking for Winnebago to post a smaller loss of $0.22 per share on total revenues of $77.4M. With overall shipments slipping by 53%, the only way the company could save money was by reducing inventory, which helped save the company more than $27M during the quarter. Despite the company citing continued weakness in the RV business, shares of WGO managed to trade in the green during the morning session, adding $0.20, or 4.3%, to trade at $5.15 per share. Read more about Winnebago Industries Inc. at CNNMoney

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