Analysts

A story in the business section of yesterday's edition of The Sun incorrectly said that USF&G Corp. did not pay a dividend on its common stock. Currently it pays a quarterly dividend of 5 cents a share.The Sun regrets the error.USF&G Corp. said yesterday that it eked out its second narrowly profitable quarter in a row in the three months that ended in June, but, just as in early 1992, the Baltimore insurance conglomerate posted a small loss after it paid the dividend on its preferred stock.

Cybersecurity industry analysts expect the market to grow more than 50 percent in the next four years even as other types of defense spending are expected to flatten or decline, creating new opportunities for workers and businesses in Maryland. The analysts presented their findings last week at the CyberMaryland conference in Baltimore. Information security professionals have to wade through an overwhelming amount of digital data every day to monitor for cyber threats — an increasingly cumbersome workload that will create new opportunities for federal contractors and workers, said John Slye, a federal industry research analyst with GovWin, a market intelligence and software company.

NEW YORK -- When Philip Morris announced earlier this year that it was slashing the price of its leading Marlboro cigarettes to compete with generic brands, Wall Street went into shock.Analysts scrambled to change their recommendations on the consumer goods company. Portfolio managers unloaded shares. In one day, $13.4 billion in the company's stock value was wiped out.While the debacle has highlighted Philip Morris' problems, it has also refocused attention on the analysts themselves. Critics charge that analysts' sometimes-cozy relations with the companies they cover blinds them to weaknesses and impending problems.

NEW YORK -- Shares of Black & Decker plunged in early trading yesterday and, though rebounding a bit, remained off about 6 percent for the session on heavy volume.The stock price of the Towson-based home-products company closed at $19.125, down $1.125, after falling as low as $18.375. The sell-off punctuated a far larger slide that dates back to late spring. At that time, the company's shares peaked at nearly $26.875 after having tripled in the prior 18 months.The most recent decline, on the eve of the important annual National Hardware Show in Chicago, is a sharp reflection of diminishing optimism for the industry's prospects despite the company's contention that business in the United States has begun to improve.

DETROIT -- Twelve automotive analysts slashed fourth-quarter earnings estimates for General Motors Corp. yesterday in response to the company's year-end surprise that it spent more than expected to introduce new models and clear inventories.The analysts lowered their estimates to an average of 50 cents a share, down from 99 cents a share, according to First Call Corp.GM earned $1.87 billion, or $1.98 a share, in the year-ago quarter.GM, which predicted earnings of 60 cents a share yesterday, told analysts it is spending more heavily than expected to introduce 15 cars and trucks in North America.

SEATTLE -- The monthlong strike by 17,000 Boeing engineers has exacted such a toll that Wall Street stock analysts are questioning the company's near-term bottom line, and some say privately that they're puzzled by what they see as the company's intransigence. Boeing's stock has lost 17 percent of its value since the strike began Feb. 9, and analysts estimate that first-quarter profit, to be reported next month, could fall well short of expectations, even considering payroll savings. The company hasn't delivered an airplane since March 1, Boeing said Thursday.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Cisco Systems Inc., the No. 1 maker of Internet equipment, said yesterday that its fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 92 percent. Revenue and profit, excluding acquisition-related costs, increased more than analysts forecast. Cisco shares fell $1.63 to $55.13 on the Nasdaq stock market before the earnings report, pulling technology stocks lower. Its stock lost another 75 cents to $54.38 in after-hours trading - even though the results were better than expected. Net income rose to $798 million, or 11 cents a share, compared with $415 million, or 6 cents, a year earlier.

Radio One Inc. said yesterday that it suffered a $15.4 million fourth-quarter loss, but analysts and company officials said other key indicators show that the nation's largest radio broadcaster serving black listeners is performing well. The loss, which amounted to 16 cents a diluted share, compares with a loss of $7.87 million, or 9 cents a diluted share, a year earlier. "The tragic events of [Sept. 11] brought business to a halt for a while, and advertising cancellations were numerous during the days and weeks following the attack," Radio One Chief Financial Officer Scott Royster told analysts in a conference call yesterday.

US Airways Group Inc. reported yesterday a $30 million third-quarter loss as a result of what airline executives said were "staggering" fuel costs and intense competition from low-cost airlines. The results were a marked improvement over the Arlington, Va.-based airline's third-quarter 1999 loss of $85 million, but still caught some industry analysts by surprise. The loss of 45 cents per share for the quarter that ended Sept. 30 is significantly higher than the 19-cent loss expected by analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial.

U.S. Foodservice, the second-largest national food-service distributor, reported fiscal first-quarter earnings yesterday that beat analysts' expectations by a penny and said it would continue its strategy of expansion through acquisition.The Columbia company said it had net income of $23.1 million, or 23 cents per diluted share, in its first quarter.Nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected U.S. Foodservice to make 22 cents a share in the quarter.Net income for the three months that ended Oct. 2 rose 37 percent, from $16.9 million, or 18 cents per diluted share, in the fiscal first quarter of 1999.