Apple profits up on iPod, iPhone sales

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Apple's fiscal fourth-quarter profits jumped 67 percent and easily beat Wall Street expectations, capping a record-breaking year that saw unprecedented momentum in its Mac business, ceaseless consumer interest in its iPod players and a successful introduction of its newest endeavor, the iPhone.

For the three months that ended Sept. 30, Apple said Monday it earned $904 million, or $1.01 per share, compared with $542 million, or 62 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue totaled $6.22 billion, compared with $4.84 billion in the same quarter last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting earnings of 86 cents per share on sales of $6.07 billion.

Apple said it shipped a record 2.16 million Macs in the quarter, an increase of 34 percent, while it sold 10.2 million iPods, up 17 percent. In the first full quarter of iPhone sales, Apple said it sold 1.12 million units, bringing the cumulative total to 1.39 million since the product debuted on June 29.

Netflix price cuts pay off in quarter

SAN FRANCISCO -- Stung by the recent success of rival Blockbuster, online DVD rental pioneer Netflix battled back in the third quarter with lower prices that revived subscriber growth and catapulted its profit well beyond analyst expectations.

The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company said it earned $15.7 million, or 23 cents per share, for the three months ended September. That represented a 23 percent increase from net income of $12.8 million, or 18 cents per share, in the same period last year.

The earnings blew past the average estimate of 15 cents per share among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Revenue rose 15 percent to $294 million -- about $8 million above analysts' average estimate.

American Express sees profit rise

NEW YORK -- American Express, one of the nation's biggest credit-card issuers, said Monday higher spending by cardholders pushed third-quarter profit up 10 percent.

The credit-card brand reported quarterly profit rose to $1.07 billion, or 90 cents per share, from $967 million, or 79 cents per share last year. Revenue rose 11 percent to $6.95 billion from $6.27 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had projected earnings of 85 cents per share on $7.27 billion of revenue, meaning American Express beat the earnings estimate even though it fell short on the revenue side. American Express during the past few quarters has complained to analysts that its revenue estimates are too diverse to make an accurate projection.

Merck earnings up 62 percent

TRENTON, N.J. -- Merck & Co. posted a 62 percent increase in its third-quarter profit Monday, as the drugmaker's revenues increased by double digits.

The Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based maker of osteoporosis treatment Fosamax and Singulair for asthma and allergies reported net income of $1.53 billion, or 70 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, up from $940.6 million, or 43 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenues totaled $6.07 billion, up 12 percent from $5.4 billion a year ago. Excluding a charge for an acquisition and a gain from a patent settlement, net income would have been 75 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 69 cents per share, excluding one-time items, on revenue of $6.06 billion.

Kimberly-Clark boosts guidance

SAN ANTONIO -- Kimberly-Clark Corp., the maker of Kleenex tissues, Huggies diapers and other consumer products, said Monday its profit rose 24 percent in the third quarter with help from sales growth and cost reductions.

Earnings rose to $453.1 million, or $1.04 a share for the July through September period, up from $364.2 million, or 79 cents a share, a year ago.

Without one-time costs the company paid as part of its plan to reduce some lower-margin operations, the earnings per share would have been $1.07, a penny higher than what was expected by Thomson Financial.

Sales climbed nearly 10 percent to a record $4.6 billion in the quarter, up from $4.2 billion last year. The company raised its earnings guidance for the fourth quarter to a range of $1.09 to $1.11 per share, taking its full-year expectations to a range of $4.23 to $4.25 per share, up from earlier guidance of $4.20 to $4.25 a share.