4Q earnings: So far, so good
January 18, 2002: 5:14 p.m. ET
Corporate results are beating lowered expectations, pointing to recovery.
money.cnn.com
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The first week of the season for reporting fourth-quarter earnings ended Friday, bringing better news than most analysts expected. The results pointed to a future end of a prolonged, recession-fueled slump in profit growth.
As of midday Friday, 113 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index, about 23 percent of the total index, had reported fourth-quarter profits or losses. Of that group, 70 beat Wall Street analysts' expectations, 32 of them met forecasts, and just 11 reported disappointing results.
Unfortunately, however, analysts' forecasts for fourth-quarter results had been greatly reduced before the earnings season started, and reported results are 21.6 percent lower than they were a year ago, which is about where earnings tracker First Call expects them to stay through the rest of the season. |
