Before the bell: EBAY, YHOO, BAC, AAPL, AXP, JNJ

Posted Jan 22nd 2008 8:26AM by Melly Alazraki
Filed under: Before the Bell, Earnings Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Yahoo! (YHOO), Apple Inc (AAPL), eBay (EBAY), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), American Express (AXP), Bank of America (BAC)

Before the bell: Wall Street set to join international sell-off

The Wall Street Journal says that eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) chief executive office Meg Whitman plans to retire as her 10 years at the company come to an end.

The New York Times says that Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is planning to lay off hundreds of employees in an effort to increase its profitability. The internet portal could also try to focus the company more into a smaller number of crucial areas.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) reported a fourth-quarter profit fall of 95% to $268 million, or 5 cents a share, from $5.26 billion, or $1.16 a share, a year earlier due to a $1.99 billion write-off for subprime credit problems, $5.44 billion in trading losses and a less confident consumer.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares are down nearly 5.5% in premarket trading to $152.52. Apple is reporting earnings after the close today and "is poised to top its first-quarter profit forecast after holiday shoppers bought Macintosh computers, iPods and iPhones in record numbers." Yet, many say that may not satisfy shareholders who have been used to big surprises from the company each quarter. As of Friday's close, the shares were 20% off their high and traded 17% lower than that in Frankfurt to as low as $133.26 before rebounding to just over $150. Apple may report first-quarter profit of $1.41 billion, or $1.60 a share, according to the average of nine estimates in a Bloomberg survey, but may need to deliver earnings of at least $1.89 to boost the shares, according to some analysts.

American Express (NYSE: AXP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup due to fears about the economy.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) said earnings increased 9.2% on rising sales of consumer items, such as Listerine mouthwash, acquired from Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) about a year ago. Fourth-quarter net income rose to $2.37 billion, or 82 cents a share. Excluding costs, earnings beat by two cents the 86- cent estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Tags: aapl, axp, bac, ebay, inthenews, jnj, yhoo