Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM) reported essentially flat fourth-quarter earnings of 44 cents per shares, beating analyst expectations by two pennies. Robust sales in its China and international divisions countered rising costs and a sluggish U.S. performance. Yum raised its 2008 earnings forecast, but not enough for investors to be satisfied. YUM shares fell over 2.2% in premarket trading.Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) swung to a $458 million fourth-quarter loss, as the $27 billion acquisition of Guidant Corp. nearly two years ago continued to erode its bottom line and obscure an overall sales gain. Net loss for the October-December period equaled 31 cents per share, down from a profit of $277 million, or 19 cents per share the year before. Sales, though rose 4% to $2.15 billion. Excluding charges, Boston Scientific posted a profit of $355 million, or 24 cents per share.
Two unconfirmed reports: Engadget reports that Apple Inc. (NADSAQ: AAPL) may come up with a 16 GB iPhone soon. Staff at AT&T (NYSE: T) and O2 saw the phone listed in the inventory -- wishful thinking or the natural step up?
Meanwhile, MacRumors reports that employees have spotted new MacBook Pros in Best Buy's (NYSE: BBY) inventory tracking system.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) said Tuesday it received an order worth about $150 million at list prices for two of its 737-800 jets from Romanian low-cost airline Blue Air Transport Aerian.
Some analyst calls:
- Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) was upgraded at Banc of America from Neutral to Buy.
- KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) were both upgraded at BoA from Neutral to Buy while Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) was upgraded from Sell to Neutral. KBH shares are up over 3.3% in premarket trading, PHM's over 7.2%, and TOL over 1.1%.
- Potash Corp. (NYSE: POT) was upgraded at Citigroup from Hold to Buy. POT shares are up nearly 1.6% in premarket trading.
- SiRF Technology (NASDAQ: SIRF) received at least four downgrades after reporting sharply lower fourth-quarter profit that missed Wall Street expectations. Sales missed too. SIRF shares are down nearly 43% in premarket action.
Closing Bell: Economic Catapult for Thanksgiving & Black Friday (WMT, TGT, GRMN, GOOG, MSFT)
Deere up on Q4 earnings performance
Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point)
