Before the bell: Making it three in a row? Futures point to a higher openAmgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) said on Thursday that fourth-quarter profit edged higher. The cost cut measure the world's largest biotechnology company by sales has taken helped it post a quarterly net profit of $835 million, or 76 cents per share, compared with a profit of $833 million, or 71 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding items, Amgen earned $1.00 per share, topping analysts' average expectations by 3 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates. More importantly, though was Amgen's sales of the red blood cell booster Aranesp -- seen as its most important product -- which easily beat analysts expectation. Shares are up nearly 3.5% in premarket trading.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) had just reported, saying its fourth-quarter earnings rose 11% to $975 million, or $1.50 per share on strong international growth, which offset weakness in the domestic market. Revenue rose 10% to $12.14 billion. Analysts were expecting a profit of $1.50 per share on revenue of $11.79 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Financial. Revenue outlook for 2008 was slightly below expectations. Stock is up 0.77% in premarket trading.
Honywell Internationl Inc. (NYSE: HON), also reported late Thursday, saying that fourth-quarter net income rose 18% to $689 million, or 91 cents per share, inline with analyst estimates. All its four business segments experienced growth. Fourth-quarter sales were up 12% to $9.3 billion. HON shares are up 1.4% in premarket trading.
Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) inched past Wall Street's estimates Thursday. Sun's net income leaped 95%, rising to $260 million, or 31 cents per share, for the three months ended Dec. 30. That was a penny higher than the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Sales inched up from last year's $2.57 billion to $3.61 billion this quarter, slightly higher than the $3.59 billion Wall Street was expecting. While content with the results, investors still worry about the competition and the server and software maker's ability to prosper. Shares were up 1.43% in premarket trading.
Harley Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) said Friday its fourth-quarter profit tumbled 26.3% to $186.1 million, or 78 cents per share,due to slumping U.S. motorcycle sales amid a weakening economy. Revenue dropped 7.7% to $1.39 billion. Analysts had expected a profit of 82 cents per share on revenue of $1.34 billion.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares seem to be in a recovery mood finally, indicating up 1.6% in premarket trading to $137.77. The new MacBook Air remains the talk of the town (or the blogosphere), this time Engadget. Engadget tested several Apple machines and found that MacBook Air is the slowest Apple machine on the block.
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