Thursday May 1 12:56 PM EDT
AOL ( America Online Inc ) shares up, Cowen reiterates strong buy
NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuter) - Shares of America Online Inc were up after Cowen & Co analysts reiterated a strong buy on
the online services giant, suggesting investors buy the stock ahead of its quarterly earnings report next Monday.
"We believe there will be surprise announcements on a number of different fronts," Cowen's Scott Reamer said. He said he
expects AOL to report better-than-expected bottom-line results, improved customer retention, and better-than-expected
revenues from non-subscription areas.
"We had a loss of $0.10 (a share), and the company could possibly come in at a loss of $0.03 to break-even," he said.
Shares of America Online were up 2-1/2 to 47-5/8 in active trading.
biz.yahoo.com
Earlier Thursday, AOL announced a settlement, along with CompuServe Corp and privately held Prodigy Services, with the
Federal Trade Commission, regarding the free trial services offered by the online services. Some consumers who have signed
up for free service for one month have been surprised by automatic debits to their checking account.
Reamer said that the agreement has no financial impact on AOL, since no fines were levied against the three online services,
and no other financial implications are expected. |
