It's been about a year since Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) became a public company. Unfortunately, the stock performance has been miserable -- going from $31 to $13.57.

Yet, the company keeps making money. In the latest quarter, Discover posted net income of $234 million, or $0.48 per share, which compares to $209.2 million, or $0.44 per share in the same period a year ago. The company got a boost from its unloading of its Goldfish card division (a UK credit card company).

No doubt, Discover must deal with the slowing U.S. economy. But, the good news is that the company has been relatively conservative with its credit standards and has long-time customers (which helps provide more stability). However, there is still a rise in delinquencies and charge-offs. For example, overdue loans (for the past 30 days) has gone from 2.71% to 3.54% over the past year.

Now, Discover does have key asset advantage; that is, it operates its own processing network. This is certainly a solid business as people increasing use credit cards and other electronic payments. In fact, Discover recently purchased Diner's Club International, which also has its own processing network.

Unfortunately, Wall Street isn't interested. The belief is that -- as the economy remains sluggish -- there is likely to be a drag on the growth of Discover.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Discover Financial looks for some credit from investors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) first-quarter profit soared and it offered an encouraging outlook.
• AgFeed Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: FEED) full-year results were in line with expectations.
• Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) warned that it expects a first-quarter loss due to write-downs.
• Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) first-quarter profit plunged on the unloading of Goldfish
• FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) posted lower-that-expected third-quarter earnings on rising fuel prices.
• 4Kids Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: KDE) posted dismal fourth-quarter and full-year results.
• GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) posted strong fourth-quarter earnings on Guitar Hero and other games.
• General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) third-quarter profit surged on increased demand for Cheerios, yogurt, etc.
• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings.
• Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH) posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings.
• Lumber Liquidators Inc. (NYSE: LL) beat estimates on infrastructure investments and merchandise variety.
• Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings.
• Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) third-quarter profits soared on strong international demand.
• Shuffle Master Inc. (NASDAQ: SHFL) missed expectations for the first quarter.
• Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) lowered its earnings outlook on delays and order cancellations.

Also, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is recession proof? Ted Allrich wonders if there are any safe stocks. Jim Cramer doesn't expect much from tech stocks. And Aaron Katzman looks at the effect of rising grain prices.

Upcoming results to watch for include Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG), Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF), Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), ConAgra (NYSE: CAG), and KB Home (NYSE: KBH).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Earnings highlights: Goldman Sachs, Lehman Bros., Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.