Earnings and Market News: Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), Citigroup Inc. (C), New York Times Co. (NYT), TD Ameritrade Corp. (AMTD)

• Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) said President Barack Obama missed a great opportunity to rebuild America’s infrastructure, stating that the $787 billion stimulus plan was rather disappointing when compared to the funds shelled out for such projects in other countries around the world. In fact, China’s economy is roughly one-third the size of the United States, yet has allocating over three times as much for infrastructure projects. This came at a time when Caterpillar reported its first net loss in over 16 years, Bloomberg reports. 

• Based on initial earnings data for the first quarter, profits may actually beat expectations for the first time in several quarters.  Words of caution arise from experts who claim that because the earnings expectation bar had been dropped so low, it shouldn’t be a surprise that many of the results would come in on the upside.  So far, a slim majority of companies, 30 out of 58, have beat analysts’ estimates, Business Week reports.   

 

• Financial institutions around the globe will have to write down assets of more than $4.1 trillion in an effort to restore stability into the marketplace, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The United States is much further along than Europe and Japan, with institutions here in the U.S. already halfway through the write down process, Reuters reported.

 

• Citigroup Inc. (C) C.E.O. Vikram Pandit stated that he fully expects the third largest U.S. bank to rebound and pay back the money that is owed to the United States government, Reuters reported. The bank posted a $1.59 billion first quarter profit and is currently trading up 11.22% on the day at $3.26/share.

 

• The New York Times Co. (NYT) disappointed investors by posting a wider quarterly loss of $74.5 million, or 52 cents a share,  following a steep advertising revenue drop of 27%. Newspaper and print companies continue to get slammed and next quarter’s outlook will not be any brighter according to Bloomberg.

 

• TD Ameritrade Corp. (AMTD) reported better than expected quarterly revenue on the back of near record trading in the month of March. However, the company disclosed that it had a 29% drop in interest-based revenue from managed assets, which retreated by approximately 51%. TD Ameritrade earned $132.0 million, or 23 cents per share in its fiscal second quarter, suggesting that the company continues to acquire investment advisors and clients amid the recent recession, Reuters reported.

Stanley Barnes
Analyst, Bourbon & Bayonets