Nike profits up 32 percent
Beaverton, Ore. Nike Inc. said Monday its first-quarter profit grew 32 percent as the world’s largest sneaker and athletic apparel company posted broad gains in sales and orders. The results beat Wall Street forecasts and its shares surged 6.4 percent.
Quarterly earnings rose to $432.3 million, or $1.61 per share, for the three months ended Aug. 31 from $326.8 million, or $1.21 per share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 8 percent to $3.86 billion from $3.56 billion last year.
Analysts expected the company to earn $1.42 per share on revenue of $3.82 billion, according to a Thomson Financial survey.
Future orders for footwear and apparel scheduled for delivery from September through January totaled $4.9 billion, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year.
Nike shares rose $4.99 to close at $83.45 on the New York Stock Exchange. Its shares have ranged in a 52-week range of $74.96 to $92.43.
•Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. on Monday boosted its full-year revenue guidance slightly and said it expects to report strong revenue growth in 2006.
In a Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the satellite radio provider raised its revenue outlook to $230 million from $225 million. The higher outlook is below analysts’ revenue expectations of $234.5 million for the year, according to a Thomson Financial survey.
Sirius did not provide more specific revenue guidance for 2006, and did not provide a reason for its higher 2005 revenue outlook.
Studios join against movie piracy
Los Angeles The six major Hollywood studios have formed a joint venture to research and create technologies to prevent movie piracy, industry officials said Monday.
The nonprofit group will be called Motion Picture Laboratories Inc. and will have a budget of more than $30 million for its first two years.
Numerous private companies are working on methods to jam camcorders used to illegally tape movies in theaters or prevent consumers from sending copies of DVDs across the Internet.
The new organization will help develop those ideas more quickly to cut the billions of dollars the motion picture industry estimates is lost each year from unauthorized copying.
It’s lights-out for the Dodge Neon
Detroit After 11 years, Chrysler Group plans to end production of its spunky, low-priced Dodge Neon this week to make way for a sleek replacement.
The last Neon is scheduled to roll off the line with little fanfare Friday at Chrysler’s plant in Belvidere, Ill., company spokesman Ed Saenz said Monday.
Chrysler, a unit of DaimlerChrysler AG, is spending $419 million to revamp the Belvidere production line so it can build multiple models, including the Dodge Caliber, which will replace the Neon. The Caliber is expected to go on sale early next year.
The Neon was introduced in January 1994 as a 1995 model, in both Dodge and Plymouth versions. It quickly became a favorite among young buyers for its styling and quirky marketing, including ads that said simply “Hi.” With a starting price around $14,000, it competes directly with popular Asian models like the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla.