Earnings Per Share

Jos. A. Bank reported strong earnings yesterday as healthy sportswear sales helped offset a weak demand for suits across the industry. The Hampstead-based company reported a 34 percent increase in fourth-quarter net income, to $24.8 million from $18.5 million in the comparable period last year. Earnings per share were $1.36, beating analysts' projections of $1.25. Net income for the fiscal year, which ended Feb. 3, increased 21 percent, to $43.2 million from $35.3 million for the previous year.

Legg Mason Inc. reported the second-best quarter yesterday in its 100-year history, and its shares promptly tumbled 11.8 percent.An even better quarter had been predicted by analysts, and "missing the numbers" contributed to the weakness in the company's shares, as did the general sell-off in the stock market.Legg made $28.3 million in the fiscal second quarter that ended Sept. 30, up 30 percent from the $21.8 million reported for the second quarter last year.Diluted earnings per share jumped 27 percent to 47 cents in the quarter, compared with 37 cents reported for the year-earlier period.

McCormick & Co. Inc., on the eve of its annual stockholders meeting, reported record sales and earnings per share yesterday for its 1999 fiscal first quarter.Today, the Sparks-based spice-and-seasonings company will hold its annual stockholders meeting at the Hunt Valley Inn-Marriott.The meeting, which the company expects will be attended by 800 to 1,000 shareholders, will be the last chaired by veteran executive Charles P. "Buzz" McCormick Jr.The company said yesterday that it earned $18.17 million in the three months that ended Feb. 28, a 12 percent jump from the $16.21 million it earned in the corresponding period a year earlier.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s first-quarter profit rose 34 percent as the world's largest retailer lifted grocery sales and kept a lid on costs.Net income rose to $1.11 billion, or 25 cents a share, from $828 million, or 18 cents, a year earlier. The results, announced yesterday, topped forecasts for the sixth quarter in a row, exceeding by 3 cents the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call Corp. Wal-Mart shares rose $2.125 to $47.3125.Sales rose 16 percent to $34.7 billion, led by demand for food at its U.S. stores.

Life Technologies Inc. yesterday posted a 3 percent gain in earnings for the second quarter.The Rockville-based supplier to the life science research and biotechnology industries reported earnings of $9.76 million for the three months that ended June 30, up from $9.45 million in the second quarter of 1998.Diluted earnings per share were 39 cents, unchanged from the corresponding period last year and below analysts' expectations of 42 cents a share.Revenue in the quarter was $100.3 million, up from $92.2 million in the second quarter of 1998.

Thanks to a big boost from its North American operations and healthy auto sales in Europe, General Motors Corp. reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings yesterday.The world's largest automaker reported consolidated net income of $2.1 billion, or $3.10 a share, for the three months that ended March 31. That is up 31 percent from net income of $1.6 billion, or $2.31 per share, in the same quarter of last year.Sales rose 6 percent to $42.4 billion from $40 billion in the first quarter of 1998.

Beset by debt and a resulting capital crunch, Prime Retail Inc. reported yesterday that its third-quarter earnings fell 4 percent, the first time in more than two years that the company has failed to post an increase in its income.Prime Retail, the Baltimore-based owner of outlet centers, said its funds from operations dropped to $26.1 million, or 38 cents per share, in the quarter that ended Sept. 30. The company noted, though, that its earnings per share rose 2.7 percent.At the same time, the real estate investment trust's revenue was $77.4 million, an increase of 5.2 percent from the comparable period in 1998.

Strong performance in its power tools and accessories business drove Black & Decker Corp.'s net earnings up 13 percent in the third quarter, the Towson-based company said yesterday.Profit for the three months that ended Oct. 3 was $75.3 million, up from $66.6 million a year ago. Helped in part by a stock buyback that reduced the number of outstanding shares, earnings per share reached a record 85 cents, beating nine analysts' average estimate of 83 cents, according to Zacks Investment Research.

Despite a $14.6 million charge that substantially reduced the bottom line, analysts and company officials were generally happy with the earnings report released yesterday by Sparks-based spice maker McCormick & Co. Inc.Not including the charge, which was related to last week's announcement that the company will fire 300 workers and close a plant in the United Kingdom, earnings per share for the second quarter were up 27 percent to 28 cents -- beating Wall...

As part of an effort to boost its slowly rebounding stock price, Sparks-based McCormick & Co. Inc. yesterday said it would buy back another $250 million worth of its shares."

Spice maker McCormick & Co. said yesterday that fourth-quarter earnings fell because of a write-down on a Dutch company it owns and that it expects a challenging year because of unfavorable exchange rates. The Sparks-based company reported net income of $82.5 million, or 62 cents a share, compared with $87.6 million, or 67 cents a share, for the quarter ended Nov. 30. The company said acquisitions, product innovation and increased marketing have helped it weather a weak global economy.

FTI reports 20 percent increase in earnings Baltimore-based FTI Consulting Inc., a business advisory firm best known for helping struggling companies reorganize, said yesterday that its third-quarter earnings increased 20 percent, but it was delaying a public offering of its technology division because of market conditions. Net income was $27.5 million, or 51 cents per share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30. That compared with $23 million, or 50 cents per share, in the corresponding period a year ago. Revenue increased 29 percent to $325.

Third-quarter earnings up 21% at McCormick Spicemaker McCormick & Co. said yesterday that third-quarter earnings per share increased 21 percent as the company raised prices and saw a small benefit from the sale of its Season-All business. The Sparks-based company reported net income of $68.6 million, or 52 cents per share, for the quarter ended Aug. 31. That was compared with $56.8 million, or 44 cents per share, for the corresponding period a year ago. Sales were $781.6 million, compared with $716.

Under Armour Inc. shares plummeted yesterday to less than half of the high they hit last summer, as investors showed concern about the company's decision to sacrifice earnings in the first half of this year to spend heavily on advertising. The shares begin falling - to finally close at $37.06, down $5.79, in regular trading - after Wachovia Securities analysts reported that the Baltimore athletic apparel company will front-load its 2008 ad spending by, among other things, running a 60-second commercial during the Super Bowl on Feb. 3. Under Armour confirmed the report after the markets closed, adding that earnings for the first half of 2008 would probably be only 3 to 5 cents a share because of the unbalanced ad spending.

Jos. A. Bank reported strong earnings yesterday as healthy sportswear sales helped offset a weak demand for suits across the industry. The Hampstead-based company reported a 34 percent increase in fourth-quarter net income, to $24.8 million from $18.5 million in the comparable period last year. Earnings per share were $1.36, beating analysts' projections of $1.25. Net income for the fiscal year, which ended Feb. 3, increased 21 percent, to $43.2 million from $35.3 million for the previous year.

The slowdown in the housing market that cast a pall over power tools sales last year was reflected in the paychecks for executives at Towson-based Black & Decker Corp. According to a Black & Decker filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Nolan D. Archibald and several other top executives did not receive bonuses in 2006. The company filing put Archibald's total compensation, including his base salary of $1.5 million, at $10.3 million last year, compared with $11.8 million in 2005.

When corporate earnings have been climbing at a double-digit rate for a historic 18 quarters in a row and are projected to climb at close to 10 percent in the next year, it's tough to sing the blues. And most of Wall Street is not. The consensus for the next year is that corporate profit growth will slow but continue to climb, along with a slower-growing, but still sound, economy. Yet, as profit growth projections cool to 9.7 percent in 2007 from about 15 percent this year, some strategists are warning investors to be careful about expecting too much from the stock market.

Black & Decker Corp. executives acknowledged yesterday that the housing slowdown is having more impact on sales than they previously thought, and that earnings will be affected into 2007. While officials of the Towson company have insisted that less than 20 percent of sales are tied to home building, chief executive Nolan D. Archibald said yesterday that economic conditions have caused key retailers to order fewer power tools and accessories. "We expected an organic sales decline, but not the magnitude that we've experienced," Archibald told analysts during a conference call yesterday.

What does the future hold for my CVS Corp. shares? - K.T., via the Internet The future looks bright in a rapidly consolidating drugstore industry in which it is a leader. But it is a fiercely competitive field. CVS, with more than 6,000 stores, has yet to match the profitability per store of traditional rival Walgreen Co. It is actively replacing many stores within strip malls with more profitable free- standing corner locations to try to narrow that profitability gap. Meanwhile, discount retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently rolled out a plan offering many generic drugs for $4 a prescription.

DALLAS -- U.S. corporations are slurping up their own shares like it's feeding time on a pig farm. Companies in the S&P 500 spent $349 billion repurchasing their shares last year, compared with $197 billion in 2004, and that figure is expected to move even higher this year. Amid the stock market's meanderings, those buybacks have provided a source of optimism. Anytime big investors are buying - even if it's companies repurchasing their own shares - that's good news for the market. But some analysts question whether buybacks are good for the companies that undertake them, particularly in the long run. For example, the companies may be tempted to use the shares for acquisitions, and companies that go on corporate shopping sprees often wind up with buyer's remorse.