Media giant News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and fast-food operator Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) are scheduled to report earnings later today. Here's a quick peek at them ahead of results.
News Corp. has only fallen short of earnings expectations in one of the past eleven quarters. When the company reported fiscal 2008 first-quarter results back in November, earnings came to 23 cents per share, beating the consensus forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Financial by a penny. Earnings were 28 cents per share in the previous quarter, and 19 cents in the first quarter of 2007. For the current quarter, analysts expect earnings of 27 cents per share.
News Corp.'s 26% earnings per share growth forecast for the next year is better than the industry average and the S&P 500. The analysts' consensus recommendation has been to buy News Corp for at least six months. Shares slipped to a 52-week low of $17.84 in January, but closed Friday at $20.01.
For news on MySpace, Fox News, and anything else that could influence the earnings results, see BloggingStocks' NWS coverage.
Yum! Brands has beat earnings expectations in the past seven quarters. When it reported third-quarter results in October, its 50 cents per share earnings beat the consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial by a nickel. Earnings were 42 cents per share in the same period of 2006. For the current quarter, analysts expect 42 cents per share again, the same as in the year-ago quarter. For the full year, they expect $1.66 per share, up from $1.46 cents in 2006.
The company's earnings per share growth forecast for the next year is 8.8%, which is a little better than the industry average and the S&P 500. The consensus recommendation from the analysts has recently swung to hold Yum! Brands. Shares closed Friday at $35.24, down from a 52-week high of $40.60 in early October, and struggling to recover from a tumble in January.
For analysts downgrades and other news that could influence the earnings results, see BloggingStocks' YUM coverage.
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