Boeing posts $607 million profit in second quarter, raises outlook
CHICAGO — Boeing Co. swung to a $607 million second-quarter profit from a loss a year earlier and raised its forecast for earnings and 2005 airplane deliveries Wednesday, citing the latest signs of recovery in the long-stagnant commercial aviation market.
Despite a decline in revenue from its commercial airplane unit, Boeing’s upbeat report exceeded analysts’ expectations and portrayed a brightening outlook for a company that appears to have weathered the worst of a three-year aviation slump.
Besides a thriving defense business, the results show Boeing’s commercial jet business on the upswing as a result of multiple orders from discount airlines, according to analyst Paul Nisbet of JSA Research.
“If they come anywhere near close to getting the 200 orders this year for the 7E7, I think everyone would agree that they’ve ridden it out and done well,” he said of Boeing’s planned new mid-sized jet.
Net income for the April-through-June period amounted to 75 cents a share, compared with a loss of $192 million, or 24 cents a share, for the same quarter a year earlier when results were dominated by a $1.1 billion charge reflecting problems in its satellite and launch businesses.
Excluding one-time items, including 23 cents a share for a federal tax refund, operating earnings were 50 cents a share — 3 cents better than the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Boeing shares rose 79 cents to close at $49.01 on the New York Stock Exchange.
• Anheuser-Busch Cos., the world’s largest brewer, said Wednesday its second-quarter earnings rose 7 percent, due to strong overall growth but in part because consumers are buying its high-end Michelob brands.
The St. Louis-based maker of top-selling Budweiser and Bud Light beers earned $674 million, or 83 cents per share, for the quarter ending June 30. That compares with $632.6 million, or 75 cents per share, a year ago.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had been expecting 83 cents per share from Anheuser-Busch for the quarter.
Net sales rose to $4.01 billion from $3.77 billion in 2003.
“Anheuser-Busch shares rose 68 cents to $52.58 a share in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
• Comcast Corp., the nation’s largest cable company, said Wednesday that strong sales of its Internet service and increased demand for cable features like video-on-demand helped it post a $262 million profit in its second quarter in contrast to a loss a year ago.
The cable giant raised its forecast for operating cash flow for the year and announced it would double what it spends to buy its own stock.
But the company also revealed that it had lost about 96,000 basic cable subscribers during the quarter
The news disappointed some investors. On the Nasdaq Stock Market, Comcast’s A shares fell $1.18 to close at $27.56, a 4.1 percent drop.