Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expect Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) to post smaller profits in the first quarter. Both companies are scheduled to report results on Wednesday.
Southwest is expected to essentially break even as far as earnings are concerned, which is down from the same period in 2007 when it earned four cents per share. The company has beat quarterly estimates recently. It only just beat the consensus third-quarter 2007 estimate, but beat the fourth-quarter estimate by 21.2%.
Dallas-based Southwest's low-cost, no-frills approach has made it one of the leading U.S. airlines. In the past year, the company's revenues were $9.8 billion and its net income totaled $645 million. Its EPS growth forecast for the year is -28.7%, worse than the industry average but better than that of rival JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU). The consensus recommendation of analysts remains to buy Southwest.
The stock has fallen 18.5% in the past year and trades at a P/E of 14.7. Shares closed Tuesday at $12.35.
Pfizer is expected to earn 66 cents per share, 3% less than in the same period in 2007 when it earned 68 cents. While the company has tended to beat quarterly estimates recently, it did miss the second-quarter 2007 estimate by 15.6%. It beat the fourth quarter estimate by 11.3%, though.
The New York-based maker of Viagra, Celebrex, and Zoloft is the world's largest research-based pharmaceuticals firm. In the past year, its revenues were $48.4 billion and its net income totaled $8.1 billion. Its EPS growth forecast for the year is 8.64%, which is better than both the industry average and that of rival Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK). But for the past 90 days, the consensus recommendation of analysts has been to hold Pfizer.
The stock has fallen 22.3% in the past year and trades at a P/E of 17.55. Shares closed Tuesday at $20.71.
For other news that could influence these results, see BloggingStocks' Southwest coverage and Pfizer coverage.
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