Tag: quarterly (Page 2 of 3)

CN Rail Quarterly Profit Rises on Petroleum Shipments

April 29, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

April 29 (Reuters) – Canadian National Railway Co reported a 6 percent rise in quarterly profit on Monday, as it transported higher volumes of petroleum and chemical products.

U.S. listed shares of the company rose 2.1 percent in after-hours trading.

The company’s net income rose to C$786 million, or C$1.08 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from C$741 million, or C$1 per share, a year earlier.

However, excluding one-time items, the railroad company earned C$1.17 per share, missing the analyst average estimate of C$1.18, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Canada’s largest railway operator said total carloads, the amount of freight loaded into cars, rose less than a percent.

Operating ratio, a closely watched productivity metric that measures expenses as a percentage of revenue, rose to 69.5 percent from 67.8 percent a year earlier. The lower the ratio, the more efficient a railroad.

($1 = C$1.34)

(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

Lockheed Martin Raises 2019 Profit Forecast, Shares Jump

April 23, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: Lockheed Martin is seen at Euronaval, the world naval defence exhibition in Le Bourget near Paris, France, October 23, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

(Reuters) – Lockheed Martin Corp reported a better-than-expected 47 percent jump in quarterly profit on Tuesday and raised its annual profit forecast, helped by strong demand for its missiles and fighter jets, sending its shares up more than 5 percent in pre-market trading.

U.S. weapons makers have been expected to benefit from stronger global demand for fighter jets and munitions and higher U.S. defence budgets in fiscal 2020 as they announce first quarter earnings this week.

Lockheed’s Missiles and Fire Control business, which makes missile defences like the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD), was one of its best-performing units.

On April 1, the unit was awarded a THAAD interceptor missile contract worth $2.4 billion, some of which are slated to be delivered to Saudi Arabia, which could boost earnings for the current quarter.

Overall, the Bethesda, Maryland-based company said its earnings rose to $1.70 billion, or $5.99 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $1.16 billion, or $4.02 per share, a year earlier. That was partly helped by a $75 million dollar boost from additional tax deductions on foreign military sales.

Excluding that one-time gain, Lockheed reported $5.73 per share profit, well ahead of the $4.34 per share that Wall Street had expected, on average, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Lockheed’s overall net sales for the quarter rose 23 percent to $14.34 billion. The company’s sales backlog grew to $133.5 billion, up 3 billion over the quarter.

Operating margins at the aeronautics division, Lockheed’s biggest, fell to 10.5 percent in the first quarter from 10.8 percent a year earlier, but sales were up 27 percent to $5.5 billion on demand for the F-35 jet and some classified contracts.

The United States is considering expanding sales of Lockheed-made F-35 fighter jets to five new nations including Romania, Greece and Poland as European allies bulk up their defences in the face of a strengthening Russia, a Pentagon official told Congress in early April.

(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington D.C. and Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Bill Rigby)

Union Pacific Quarterly Profit Beats Estimates

April 18, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: A Union Pacific rail car is parked at a Burlington National Santa Fe (BNSF) train yard in Seattle, Washington, U.S., February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

(Reuters) – Union Pacific Corp on Thursday reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, as the U.S. railroad raised prices, helping offset the impact of severe winter weather and record flooding that damaged rails in the Midwest.

Shares rose 2.7 percent to $173.80 in premarket trading.

Union Pacific’s operating ratio, a measure of operating expenses as a percentage of revenue and a key metric for Wall Street, increased 1 point to 63.6 percent from a year ago.

A lower ratio means more efficiency and higher profitability.

Total operating revenue fell to $5.4 billion from $5.5 billion.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based company’s net income rose to $1.4 billion, or $1.93 per share, in the first-quarter ended March 31 from $1.31 billion, or $1.68 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, expected a profit of $1.89 per share and revenue of $5.50 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Union Pacific and Berkshire Hathaway-owned BNSF are the largest U.S. freight rail operators with an annual revenue of more than $20 billion each.

(Reporting by Rachit Vats in Bengaluru and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

Textron Profit Beats on Higher Aircraft Sales

April 17, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: Cessna employee works on an engine of a Cessna business jet at the assembly line in their manufacturing plant in Wichita, Kansas March 12, 2013. REUTERS/Jeff Tuttle

(Reuters) – Cessna business jet maker Textron Inc reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, benefiting from robust aircraft deliveries, sending its share up 1.6 percent in early trading.

Business jet demand has been growing steadily in the United States, the world’s biggest market, on the back of an expanding economy and rising corporate profits.

Textron said it delivered 44 jets in the first quarter ended March 30, up from 36 last year. Commercial turboprop deliveries rose to 44 aircraft from 29 last year.

“We think this quarter has pretty much ticked all the boxes for Textron. Aviation growth has continued, with a positive book to bill in the quarter,” Vertical Research Partners analyst Robert Stallard said.

Textron has faced delays in final certification of its newest super mid-size Longitude jet, which is expected to contribute a ‘big chunk’ to the company’s revenue growth in 2019.

Analysts have warned that the certification delays from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration due to partial government shutdown followed by the regulator’s intense focus on re-certifying Boeing Co’s 737 MAX aircraft might impact sales growth at the company in the short.

Though the aviation business was among the drivers for a profit beat, Textron’s revenue missed Wall Street estimates, hurt by lower sales in its systems unit, which makes tactical armored patrol vehicles.

Textron re-affirmed its full-year profit outlook range of $3.55 to $3.75 per share.

Sales in the company’s aviation business, its biggest, rose 12.3 percent to $1.13 billion in the first quarter, while sales in the systems unit fell more than 20 percent to $307 million.

The company’s net income fell to $179 million in the quarter ended March 30 from $189 million a year earlier.

Textron earned 76 cents per share, above analysts’ average estimate of 68 cents, according to Refinitiv data.

Textron’s revenue fell 5.7 percent to $3.11 billion, below analysts’ estimates of $3.17 billion.

(Reporting by Divya R and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

SkyWest Rewards Investors With Dividend Hike & New Buyback

February 7, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

In a regulatory filing, SkyWest SKYW announced that its board of directors has approved a new share repurchase program worth $250 million. Also, the regional carrier raised its quarterly dividend by 20%. Notably, this St. George, UT-based carrier has been consistently rewarding its shareholders for quite some time.

Twin Shareholder-Friendly Moves

This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company hiked its quarterly dividend to 12 cents per share (annualized 48 per share), representing a 20% improvement from the previous payout of 10 cents per share (annualized 40 cents per share). The new dividend, which has been approved by the company’s board of directors, will be paid on Apr 4, 2019 to its stockholders of record as of Mar 29. The dividend yield based on the new payout and the Feb 6 closing market price is approximately 0.9%.

Click the link below for the full story!

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/skywest-rewards-investors-dividend-hike-121412826.html

Boeing Profit Beats; Targets 900 Plane Deliveries in 2019

January 30, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

(Reuters) – Boeing Co topped expectations with both quarterly profit and its forecast for 2019 cash flow on Wednesday, as a boom in air travel underpinned a prediction for full-year deliveries of around 900 commercial airplanes.

The company said it expects to deliver between 895 and 905 commercial aircraft in 2019, up from the 806 units it delivered last year, which kept it ahead of rival Airbus as the world’s biggest planemaker for the seventh straight year.

Boeing’s shares rose 6.4 percent to $388.25 in early trading in response, helping lift the U.S. stock futures.

Investors closely watch the number of planes Boeing turns over to airlines and leasing firms in a year for hints on the company’s cash flow and revenue.

The company forecast operating cash flow between $17 billion (13 billion pounds) and $17.5 billion in 2019, compared with cash flow of $15.32 billion in 2018, and above analysts’ average estimate of $16.73 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

It expected 2019 core earnings between $19.90 per share and $20.10 per share, and revenue between $109.5 billion and $111.5 billion.

Those numbers indicate that the fuselage and engine delays at suppliers that dominated last year are largely behind Boeing.

Boeing’s core earnings rose to $5.48 per share in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $5.07 per share a year earlier, and came in above Wall Street’s estimate of $4.57 per share.

Quarterly revenue rose 14.4 percent to $28.34 billion, above analysts’ average expectation of $26.87 billion.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Image from http://www.boeing.com

Union Pacific Profit Beats Estimates

January 24, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

(Reuters) – Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N), one of the biggest U.S. railroads, on Thursday reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit and said efficiency gains will bolster profits in 2019.

Shares in the company, which connects 23 states in the western two-thirds of the United States by rail, rose 3.3 percent to $159.37.

Its operating ratio – a measure of operating expenses as a percentage of revenue and a key metric for Wall Street – improved 1.1 points to 61.6 percent in the fourth quarter from the same period last year, the company said.

A lower ratio means more efficiency and higher profitability.

“We expect (2019) operating margins will increase as a result of solid core pricing gains and significant productivity benefits,” Chief Executive Lance Fritz said in a statement.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based company this month hired former Canadian National Railway Co (CNR.TO) executive and turnaround expert Jim Vena as its chief operating officer and said its operating ratio would fall below 60 percent by 2020.

Vena worked with Hunter Harrison, who led the revival of two Canadian railroads and died in 2017 after a short stint as CEO of CSX Corp (CSX.O), which recently set a 2019 target for a sub-60 percent operating ratio.

Union Pacific is cutting jobs, consolidating businesses and selling a corporate retreat to drive costs lower.

On a conference call on Thursday, Vena said “everything is on the table” as Union Pacific looks for further efficiency gains.

“I know the railroad has a vision in place to get to a 55 operating ratio already, and we’ll be working aggressively towards that goal,” Vena said.

Net income fell to $1.55 billion, or $2.12 per share in the fourth quarter, from $7.28 billion, or $9.25 per share, a year earlier when the company received a boost from changes in U.S. tax laws.

Freight revenue in the quarter rose 6 percent, lifting total operating revenue to $5.76 billion from $5.45 billion. Net core pricing was up 2.5 percent from the year-ago quarter.

Analysts, on average, expected a profit of $2.06 per share and revenue of $5.74 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Terminal dwell, the amount of time rail cars sit idle in a terminal, was 26.7 hours for the quarter, an 18 percent improvement versus a year ago.

Union Pacific and Berkshire Hathaway-owned (BRKa.N) BNSF are the largest U.S. freight rail operators with annual revenue of more than $20 billion each.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles and Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Steve Orlofsky and Will Dunham)

Image from http://www.up.com

Norfolk Southern Increases Quarterly Dividend 8%

January 24, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Norfolk, Va. – Jan 23, 2019

Norfolk Southern Corporation announced that its board of directors today approved an 8 percent increase in its quarterly dividend on the company’s common stock, from 80 to 86 cents per share.

The dividend is payable March 11 to shareholders of record on Feb. 4. Since its inception in 1982, Norfolk Southern has paid dividends on its common stock for 146 consecutive quarters.

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) is one of the nation’s premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway Company subsidiary operates approximately 19,500 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, and provides efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern is a major transporter of industrial products, including chemicals, agriculture, and metals and construction materials. In addition, the railroad operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is a principal carrier of coal, automobiles, and automotive parts.

Story and image from http://www.nscorp.com

General Dynamics Tops Profit Estimates

October 24, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

Oct 24 (Reuters) – U.S. aerospace and defense company General Dynamics Corp beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly profit on Wednesday, helped by higher demand for its IT services by U.S. government agencies.

The company closed its $9.7 billion purchase of IT services-heavy CSRA Inc in the middle of the year. This was the first full quarter for General Dynamics to report the results of that business as the U.S. government is in the midst of a broad modernization effort.

Revenue rose at all of the company’s businesses, with its information technology unit recording the biggest jump.

Revenue from the IT business more than doubled to $2.31 billion, as integration of the unit continued and the business won several contracts during the quarter. Major wins during the quarter for the unit included a $330 million contract from the U.S. Census Bureau and a $210 million contract from the Centers Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Profit margins at the IT services business slipped from 9.5 percent to 6.8 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Total operating margins for General Dynamics were 12.5 percent, down from 14 percent in the same period last year.

Revenue from the company’s aerospace division, which makes business jets, rose 1.8 percent. Total new Gulfstream deliveries, a key metric for investors, fell to 27 from 30 compared with the third quarter last year. But compared with the second quarter, deliveries rose by one jet and large-cabin Gulfstream deliveries rose to 21 from 18 in the second quarter.

Net earnings rose 11 percent to $851 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned $2.89 per share, beating Refinitiv estimates of $2.76.

Total revenue rose 20 percent to $9.09 billion, but fell short of estimates of $9.38 billion.

The company’s total backlog at the end of third-quarter 2018 was $69.5 billion, up 4.9 percent from second-quarter 2018. The biggest backlog contributor came from a $3.9 billion contract from the U.S. Navy for the construction of four (DDG-51) guided-missile destroyers.

(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington and Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Susan Thomas)

Boeing Tops Analysts’ Forecasts For Quarterly Profit

October 24, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

(Reuters) – Boeing (BA.N) topped analysts’ forecasts for quarterly profit on Wednesday despite a series of charges on U.S. military programs and raised its forecasts for annual profit as it continued to benefit from a boom in global air travel and airplanes.

Shares of the world’s biggest planemaker were up 4.5 percent in premarket trading, helping brighten the mood on Wall Street after a handful of shaky results on Tuesday from U.S. manufacturers hurt by concerns over global trade.

Soaring demand from commercial airlines has driven another surge in revenues for Boeing over the past year, pushing shares in the company up by roughly a third over the past 12 months.

Those moves have been dented somewhat by a combination of the trade worries, this year’s greater market volatility and a series of recurring charges for its delay-plagued KC-46 tanker program.

Boeing recorded another $176 million in charges in the quarter on the aerial refueling tanker, bringing the total cost of the program to more than $3 billion.

It also took a charge of $691 million related to the MQ25 refueling drone and T-X training jet contracts it won in August and September, offset in part by a $412 million tax benefit.

Despite the charges, Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg played up the new T-X and MQ25 business and completion of a static test model of its forthcoming 777X widebody, with two test flight jetliners in production.

“This strong underlying performance, along with growth across our businesses we’ve seen throughout the year, give us confidence to raise our 2018 revenue and earnings guidance and reaffirm our operating cash flow guidance.”

Boeing raised its full-year profit forecast to $14.90-$15.10 from a previous $14.30-$14.50 per share, and revenue to a range of $98 billion to $100 billion, up from $97 billion to $99 billion.

The Chicago-based firm’s core earnings, which exclude some pension and other costs, came in 11 cents above analysts’ average forecast at $3.58 per share in the quarter ended Sept. 30.

Boeing has delivered 568 aircraft in the first nine months of 2018 despite production snarls on its best-selling 737 narrowbody, up from 554 at the end of September a year ago, putting it on track to deliver another record year of plane sales.

That keeps the manufacturer, which aims to deliver between 810-815 planes in 2018, in front of its European rival Airbus SE (AIR.PA), which delivered 503 aircraft through September this year. Airbus shares gained 2.7 percent.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham and Nick Zieminski)

Boeing Delivers First 787-9 Dreamliner to Juneyao Airlines

In other recent Boeing news, the company delivered the first 787-9 Dreamliner for Shanghai-based Juneyao Airlines. The new, super-efficient Dreamliner will also be the first widebody commercial jet operated by a privately-held Chinese airline.

“This delivery is our airline’s biggest milestone and marks a big step toward expanding our network in China and beyond,” said Wang Junjin, Chairman, Juneyao Airlines. “As the market-leading widebody model, the 787-9 Dreamliner will play a key role in our global business growth.”

Juneyao Airlines, previously an all-Airbus operator, mainly offers flights from Shanghai to more than 50 cities across China. In introducing the long-range 787 Dreamliner, the carrier is looking to expand its international network and increase flights to Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea.

The 787-9 is part of a family of three airplanes that offer long ranges and unmatched fuel efficiency in the 200 to 350 seat market. The 787-9 can carry 290 passengers and fly up to 7,635 nautical miles (14,140 km), while reducing fuel use and emissions by 20 to 25 percent compared to older airplanes. Passengers will appreciate a more comfortable flight thanks to the Dreamliner’s large windows, lower cabin altitude, smooth-ride technology, and other amenities.

“We are delighted to welcome Juneyao to the growing 787 Dreamliner family. We are confident that the Dreamliner’s fuel efficiency, range and passenger-pleasing features will power the next stage of Juneyao Airlines’ expansion,” said Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president of Commercial Sales & Marketing at The Boeing Company. “This delivery marks the first of 10 787-9 Dreamliners for Juneyao and their emergence as an international carrier.”

To ensure a smooth introduction of the Dreamliner, Juneyao Airlines will use Boeing Global Services’ pilot training. The airline will also employ electronic flight bag in the flight deck to improve operational efficiency. On other aircraft, Juneyao uses Boeing’s tailored charting services and flight planning solutions.

Boeing Delivers First 787-9 Dreamliner to Juneyao Airlines

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