Earnings Estimates

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.

Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group said net income fell 31 percent in the fourth quarter, with earnings missing analysts' estimates by 4 cents per share. The broadcasting company on Wednesday reported net income of $22.7 million, or 28 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared to net income of $33.1 million, or 41 cents per share, in the last three months of 2010. The company declared a quarterly dividend of 12 cents per share. Analysts had expected earnings of 32 cents per share on revenue of $211.34 million.

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. said yesterday that it was lowering its first-quarter earnings estimates because of a slowdown in advertising sales resulting from the war in Iraq. The Hunt Valley company now estimates first-quarter net broadcast revenue of $152 million to $152.3 million rather than the $154.1 million to $154.8 million it had initially predicted. The new estimate is 5.1 percent to 5.4 percent more than last year's revenue of $144.5 million. Sinclair will release its first-quarter results May 8. Sinclair executives said in the first quarter that ended March 31 that they experienced about $2.2 million in advertising cancellations and in ads pre-empted by war coverage.

T. Rowe Price Group's third-quarter profit dipped 13 percent as the Baltimore money manager's revenue from investment services fell. Still, the company reported Friday that clients continued to pour money into its mutual funds and other products, driving in $7.4 billion of new money during the quarter. Earnings beat Wall Street estimates of 46 cents per share based on a survey of 18 analysts by Bloomberg News. Shares rose $5.16 to close at $54.27 yesterday. Price Chief Executive and President James A.C. Kennedy said in an interview that the company is producing positive results for clients, noting that 87 percent of its funds outperformed their peers during a five-year period that ended Sept.

Call it "Big Mo." Besides its acknowledged role in political campaigns, momentum is critical in investing as well.In fact, momentum in the corporate earnings estimates made by securities analysts should be the single most important consideration when choosing whether to buy or sell a stock, according to one research firm."

Sports-Tech"The sports industry is a $63 billion market, which is growing approximately 15 percent a year. Sports-Tech (STXL, OTC, around $3) is engaged in the development and sale of advanced computer-aided video systems used by sports programs at the professional, collegiate and high school levels, says The Kon-Lin Letter of Rocky Point, N.Y."For fiscal year 1990, revenues increased 35 percent to $5 million, with net income vaulting 179 percent. . ."We continue to recommend purchase of this stock."

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks advanced after a rise in the dollar, gaining strength from the low level of long-term interest rates.The Dow Jones industrial average rose 10.80, to 3271.39, after falling more than 31 points in the prior two sessions.Advancing common stocks outnumbered declining issues by a margin of more than 7-to-6 on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading was moderate, with about 174 million shares changing hands."The stock market received a boost from the dollar, which is up almost 2 pfennigs against the Deutschemark," said Daniel Marciano of Dillon, Read & Co.While yesterday's rise in stocks was minimal, the market is showing some signs of stabilizing, Mr. Marciano said.

SEATTLE -- Boeing Co. said yesterday that it will speed output of its new 777 jetliner and hire another 5,000 workers to meet surging demand for all its aircraft.Boeing had planned to add 8,200 workers this year. Now it will add 13,200 in its first round of hiring in seven years, bringing its total employment to 118,350.The world's largest commercial aircraft maker also said that by July 1997, monthly production of the twin-engine 777 will rise to seven per month from five.Though Boeing's business has been booming, "the magnitude and timing of the increase [in 777 output]

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. stock plummeted yesterday after the company said its key earnings measure fell during the third quarter, but executives of the Baltimore TV station group insisted that the $9-a-share free fall exaggerated the bad news.On Friday night, Sinclair quietly issued a news release saying that advertising sales at its stations that are not NBC network affiliates would force its cash flow to fall about 4 to 5 percent.Yesterday, nothing was quiet in the markets, as Sinclair's shares fell to $34.75 from $43.75 in very heavy trading.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks fell yesterday for a second day as a slumping dollar and more signs that corporate profits have peaked undermined confidence in last week's record-breaking rally.Auto stocks slumped as a slowdown in car sales prompted analysts to lower earnings estimates on Chrysler Corp. and Ford Motor Co. Other stocks sensitive to swings in the economy -- chemical, paper and construction equipment shares -- retreated as investors bet that growth in earnings will slow in 1995.Stocks also suffered from the plunge in the dollar, which plummeted to a record low against the Japanese yen and a 28-month low against the German mark.

Constellation Energy Group reported an 83 percent increase in first-quarter net income and a 20 percent increase in sales yesterday as a growing list of Fortune 100 companies and municipal utilities chose the Baltimore company as their power supplier. With profit flat at its regulated utility, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., the energy provider's strategy of going after big power buyers in competitive energy markets nationwide fueled much of the jump in earnings. Net income in the three months that ended March 31 was $120.

T. Rowe Price Group Inc. reported yesterday that a record amount of investor money flowed into its funds last year, raising assets to an all-time high of $235 billion and making the Baltimore mutual fund firm one of the fastest-growing in the country. Mounting assets and investment advisory fees, as well as a rising stock market, contributed to a fourth-quarter net income of $97 million. That was up more than 40 percent from $69 million a year ago. Earnings per share of 71 cents beat Wall Street estimates by 5 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial.

Network security specialist SafeNet Inc. reported second-quarter results yesterday that beat Wall Street estimates as it reaped the benefits of its acquisition of a California technology company. SafeNet said revenue more than tripled to $54.3 million in the three months that ended June 30, the first full quarter to include the effect of its purchase of Rainbow Technologies Inc. That compared with $16.5 million in the second quarter last year. Excluding acquisition costs, the company reported adjusted net income of $7.4 million for the second quarter, or 30 cents per diluted share.

M&T Bank Corp.'s purchase of Baltimore's Allfirst Financial Inc. in April helped lift third-quarter earnings by 42 percent, beating Wall Street estimates despite merger expenses of $12.4 million and slimmer profits on loans. Officials at Buffalo, N.Y.-based M&T said yesterday that the $3.1 billion merger cost $50 million to $60 million less than originally projected and is likely to have a negligible effect on earnings in the current quarter. The merger vaulted M&T into the top 20 U.S. banks but cost 657 jobs in Maryland.

Constellation Energy Group Inc. said yesterday that it had a first-quarter loss because of a $198.4 million charge from two new accounting changes that are affecting the energy industry, but the Baltimore-based company still exceeded analysts' expectations. Constellation reported a loss of $131.4 million, or 80 cents per diluted share, for the three months that ended March 31, compared with a profit of $228.6 million, or $1.40 a share, in the corresponding period a year earlier. Without the accounting charges, Constellation earned $59.1 million, or 36 cents per share in the first quarter.

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. said yesterday that it was lowering its first-quarter earnings estimates because of a slowdown in advertising sales resulting from the war in Iraq. The Hunt Valley company now estimates first-quarter net broadcast revenue of $152 million to $152.3 million rather than the $154.1 million to $154.8 million it had initially predicted. The new estimate is 5.1 percent to 5.4 percent more than last year's revenue of $144.5 million. Sinclair will release its first-quarter results May 8. Sinclair executives said in the first quarter that ended March 31 that they experienced about $2.2 million in advertising cancellations and in ads pre-empted by war coverage.

JP Foodservice Inc. yesterday reported earnings that were at the low end of market expectations for the three months ended in December, but still represented a 43 percent profit jump on continuing operations for the restaurant and institutional food supplier.The Columbia company said its earnings rose to $3.2 million during the second quarter of its fiscal year, or 20 cents a share, up from 14 cents before a restructuring write-off in the corresponding three months of fiscal 1995. The company's fiscal year ends in June.

Pepsico"PepsiCo (PEP, NYSE, around $32) was one of the best growth stocks of the 1980s, and its outstanding profit prospects suggest the 1990s will be a repeat performance," says Dow Theory Forecasts of Hammond, Ind."PepsiCo's top-notch marketing skills have parlayed powerful brand names into steady earnings growth."Steady growth of the U.S. soft drink market and foreign expansion opportunities point to sustained double-digit gains for the soft drink sector. The stock offers superior capital-gains potential.

Baltimore-based Provident Bankshares Corp. reported yesterday fourth-quarter results that slightly exceeded expectations, with the bank benefiting from growth in its core business, as well as from its push into the Washington marketplace. Provident, the parent of Provident Bank, recorded net income of $13.3 million for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, a 7 percent increase from the $12.4 million recorded for the corresponding period in 2001. Earnings per share on a fully diluted basis were 53 cents, a 10 percent jump from the 48 cents reported for the year-earlier quarter.

Shares of CompuDyne Corp. fell as much as 21 percent yesterday after the Hanover security-systems maker announced that its fourth-quarter earnings would be lower than expected. CompuDyne, which sells items such as attack-resistant doors and windows, had previously indicated that earnings for the fourth quarter would reach 23 cents per share. But after the market closed Monday, the company announced that it would be "only nominally profitable" in the fourth quarter. In an interview yesterday, Martin A. Roenigk, CompuDyne chairman and chief executive officer, said, "We think the fourth quarter will [show]