General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) and Chrysler LLC barely managed to submit their recovery plans by the deadline that was part of their deal to receive $13.4 billion in government loans. It wasn't clear how they could plan a recovery given the state of the economy in general and the auto industry in particular. GM said it is cutting a total of 47,000 jobs globally and closing five more U.S. factories. It said it may need up to $30 billion, but asked for $9.1 billion now. Chrysler said it will cut 3,000 more jobs and stop producing three vehicle models. Chrysler requested $5 billion in new loans. GM shares rose 2.3% in premarket trade. Ford (NYSE: F), which didn't take bailout money (at least yet), is seeing its shares climb 5.3% in premarket trade, possibly on the heels of the announcement the UAW reached a tentative agreement with the Big 3.
Companies reporting earnings today include (analyst estimates from FactSet Research):
- Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) - reported a 32% drop in fourth quarter earnings due to a write-down. Adjusted earnings of 27 cents, however, beat Wall Street estimates of 22 cents per share helped by growth in Comcast's video segment. Comcast also raised its annual dividend by 2 cents per share, to 27 cents. Comcast's revenue rose 9%. CMCSA shares gained 4.3% in premarket trade.
- Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE)'s fiscal first-quarter earnings fell to $203.9 million, or 48 cents a share. Net sales slipped 1% to $5.1 billion from $5.2 billion. Analysts expected earnings of 63 cents a share on sales of $4.7 billion. Deere said is is uncertain about 2009 and gave guidance below estimates. DE shares declined 4.5% in premarket trade.
- Goodyear Tire & Rubber (NYSE: GT) - posted a $330 million loss in the fourth quarter, or $1.37 a share compared to a profit in the same quarter last year. Sales declined to $4.1 billion. GT missed expectations as analysts had expected a loss of 94 cents, on sales of $4.98 billion. Goodyear plans to freeze salaries, cut another 5,000 jobs and sell non-core assets. GT shares are plunging over 11% in premarket trading.
- Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) - is expected to report first-quarter earnings of 91 cents a share after the close.
- Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFMI) - is expected to post first-quarter earnings of 17 cents a share after the close.
- CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) - is expected to report fourth quarter earnings of 26 cents a share after the close.
Verizon Wireless -- a venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD) -- said it's picked Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to be primary network vendors for its initial deployment of 4G. ALU shares are gaining over 3% in premarket trade.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) said CEO Immelt waived a bonus and incentives worth at least $11.7 million for 2008. He only took his regular $3.3 million salary for the year that a global recession and credit crisis undercut GE's profit and share performance. GE shares climbed 1.4% in premarket trade.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) -- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) cut holdings of JNJ and PG. The stocks haven't reacted much to the news.
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