Company News: Boeing’s 787 delay hits shares

The world’s No. 2 commercial airplane maker posted its best profit in nearly four years Wednesday as higher commercial airplane deliveries helped Boeing Co. earn $1.1 billion in the third quarter.

The results beat Wall Street expectations, but the company cautioned that a six-month delay in the launch of its new 787 “Dreamliner” plane would cut into its 2008 revenue and cause it to push 35 plane deliveries from 2008 into 2009.

That news sent the company’s shares down during most of trading Wednesday, but analysts said they were still pleased the company’s better-than-expected third-quarter performance.

“Obviously it was a very solid quarter driven by the commercial aircraft division, but investors are more focused on the outlook for 2008 and beyond,” said Edward Jones analyst Matt Collins. “The $100 billion question is when can they deliver the 787.”

With a sleek design and an even sleeker advertising campaign, Motorola Inc. is banking on its new Razr2 cell phone to pump up anemic sales and provide a rosier future after a yearlong slump punctuated by back-to-back losses.

After a first half that may have put CEO Ed Zander’s future employment into question, the end of Motorola’s rough patch may be in sight.

“We indeed believe the worst is over,” Citigroup analyst Jim Suva wrote in a research note last week.

Rival Samsung Electronics Co. overtook Motorola this summer to secure the No. 2 spot among cell phone manufacturers worldwide. Finland’s Nokia Corp. remains the far-and-away leader. Some analysts say Motorola’s market share has continued to erode and dropped back to 11 percent in the third quarter, from 22 percent last year.

Motorola hasn’t had much luck on Wall Street either, where its stock has plunged 20 percent since last fall.

Nasdaq Stock Market Inc., the nation’s largest electronic exchange, said Wednesday its third-quarter profit surged from big gains on the sale of its 31 percent stake in the London Stock Exchange.

Nasdaq’s better-than-expected results arrived the same day that Sweden’s OMX AB reported stronger profits.

Nasdaq is attempting to acquire OMX.

Nasdaq’s profits rose more than twelvefold to $365 million, or $2.41 per share, from $30.2 million, or 22 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.