Goldman Sachs Group (GS) and other financials are broadly higher, as President Bush announces further capital plans, including FDIC's temporary guarantee of most new debt issued by banks. S&P maintains hold recommendation on GS. S&P upgrades Bank of America (BAC) to buy from hold.
Morgan Stanley (MS) rises 3.84 to 21.94 after a WSJ report says MS will get $10 billion of capital from the U.S. Treasury, as part of a plan by the government to shore up the banking system. S&P upgrades MS to buy from hold.
PepsiCo (PEP) reports third quarter earnings of $1.06 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 below the First Call consensus forecast of $1.08; revenues rose 10.5% from a year ago to $11.24 billion, vs. the $11.22 billion consensus. The beverage maker sees lower-than-expected results for 2008 - it sees EPS of $3.67-$3.68, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $3.74 consensus.
Lear (LEA) falls 1.81 to 4.19 after Moody's Investors Service affirms B2 corporate family and probability of default ratings of LEA, but lowers Speculative Grade Liquidity Rating to SGL-3 from SGL-2, and the outlook to negative. Moody's says the rating action is based on LEA's recent announcement that it has further lowered its '08 EPS guidance as a result of deteriorating and volatile industry and general economic conditions.
Banco Santander (STD), a Spanish bank, will acquire Sovereign Bancorp (SOV) for $1.9 billion, or $3.81 per share, in a stock-for-stock transaction. Santander already owns roughly 25% of Sovereign.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reports better-than-expected third quarter earnings and raises 2008 EPS guidance. The company reports third quarter earnings of $1.17 per share, $0.06 better than the First Call consensus of $1.11; revenues rose 6.4% from a year ago to $15.92 billion, vs. the $15.69 billion consensus forecast. J&J sees 2008 EPS of $4.50-$4.53, vs. $4.51 consensus and $4.45-4.50 prior guidance.
Domino's Pizza (DPZ) reports third quarter earnings of $0.13 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.08 worse than the consensus forecast of $0.21; revenues fell 4.1% from a year ago to $323.6 million, vs. the $336.8 million consensus.
JB Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) reports third quarter EPS of $0.47, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.42; revenues rose 11.7% from a year ago to $996 million vs. the $994.3 million consensus.
Hercules Offshore (HERO) says that its third quarter 2008 financial results were adversely impacted by the recent hurricane activity in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The company experienced extensive downtime across all of its domestic segments as a result of the four named storms that entered the U.S. Gulf of Mexico during the third quarter. Overall, these storms resulted in an approximate $8.7 million reduction in expected revenue. It sees third quarter 2008 fully-diluted earnings per share from continuing operations ranging between $0.36-$0.38.
Pantry (PTRY) announces that it expects its fiscal year 2008 EPS to exceed fiscal 2007 EPS of $1.17 (consensus is $0.99). For fiscal year 2008, the company's merchandise and retail gasoline sales are expected to be approximately $1.64 billion and 2.1 billion gallons, respectively. The merchandise gross profit margin is expected to be below the previously announced guidance range of 36.8% to 37%, due to higher than expected LIFO charges.