Boeing says profits to fall in 2011

Boeing Co. finished 2010 with a full-year profit of $3.31 billion, or $4.45 per share. Revenue fell 5.8 percent to $64.31 billion.

Boeing predicted 2011 profits would be below what analysts expected. It’s trying to get its new 787 delivered during the third quarter, which will be three years late.

Boeing’s 2011 guidance includes rising pension costs and research and development costs that aren’t falling as fast as many expected because of the late 787 delivery. Boeing’s defense business is under pressure, too, because of tighter military spending by the U.S. and some other countries.

• Starbucks Corp. says its growing popularity with coffee drinkers around the world helped boost its first-quarter net income nearly 44 percent. The Seattle-based coffee giant reported after the market closed Wednesday that it earned $346.6 million, or 45 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Jan. 2. That’s up from $241.5 million, or 32 cents per share, earned in the same quarter last year. Revenue rose nearly 8 percent to $3 billion. • Netflix Inc.’s video subscription service topped 20 million customers during the fourth quarter to help push its earnings beyond analyst expectations and burnish its reputation as a stock market star. Its shares surged nearly 9 percent on the news. Netflix delivered in the fourth quarter by reeling in 3.1 million subscribers, by far the most during any three-month period since its service launched in 1999.

• Wendy’s/Arby’s says it booked a smaller net loss in the fourth quarter than a year ago, though its revenue fell, a drop the company blamed on this year’s fourth quarter being a week shorter than last year’s. In a report that Wendy’s/Arby’s Group Inc. called “preliminary,” the company said Wednesday that its net loss was $10.8 million, or 3 cents per share. It lost $14.7 million, or 3 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time charges, the fast-food chain said it earned a penny per share. Revenue at the company fell 7 percent to $840.7 million from $900.9 million.

• Eastman Kodak Co.’s stock tumbled 18 percent Wednesday after the photography icon said its fourth-quarter profit dropped 95 percent on weaker camera and film revenue and sharply lower royalties from digital-imaging inventions. The 130-year-old picture-taking pioneer missed Wall Street expectations and posted its third yearly loss in a row. Kodak earned $22 million, or 8 cents a share, in the October-December period. That compares with net income of $443 million, or $1.40 a share, a year earlier when results were swelled by $421 million in one-time royalties from patent-litigation triumphs over two South Korean electronics makers. Sales sank 25 percent to $1.93 billion.

• Xerox Corp. stirred concern among its investors Wednesday, as it reported 5 percent lower fourth-quarter profit, offered a tepid earnings outlook and announced that longtime finance chief Lawrence A. Zimmerman will retire next month. Xerox expects adjusted earnings of 20 cents to 22 cents per share for the first quarter, a penny shy of forecasts. For the full year, Xerox projected adjusted earnings per share of $1.05 to $1.10. Analysts were looking for the high end of that range.

• ConocoPhillips said Wednesday its fourth-quarter net income jumped 54 percent as oil prices increased and its refining operations turned a profit. The Houston company reported net income of $2 billion, or $1.39 per share, for the final three months of 2010. That compares with $1.3 billion, or 86 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue grew 22 percent to $53.2 billion.