Apple records gain from iPods

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Apple Inc. said first-quarter profit jumped 78 percent after holiday shoppers snapped up iPod digital music players and Macintosh computers.

Net income rose to $1 billion, or $1.14 a share, from $565 million, or 65 cents, a year earlier, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple said. Sales rose 24 percent to $7.12 billion. Analysts anticipated profit of 78 cents.

Profit and sales will fall short of analysts' estimates in the second quarter. Apple forecast earnings of 54 to 56 cents a share, compared with the 60-cent average analyst estimate. Apple expects sales of $4.8 billion to $4.9 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $5.23 billion. (Bloomberg)

JPMorgan sets quarterly record

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the third-biggest US bank, said earnings rose 48 percent to a record in the fourth quarter on gains from investment banking and trading, capping its most profitable year ever.

Profit from continuing operations climbed to $3.91 billion, or $1.09 a share, from $2.64 billion, or 74 cents, a year earlier, the New York company said. Excluding a tax benefit, which added 10 cents a share, JPMorgan's results beat the 95-cent estimate of analysts.

Revenue rose 14 percent to a record $16.9 billion, topping the analyst estimate of $15.8 billion. (Bloomberg)

State Street beats Wall St. estimates

State Street Corp. reported a 17 percent increase in quarterly profit that beat Wall Street's estimates, as customers bought more asset-management and servicing products.

Boston-based State Street, the world's biggest institutional asset manager, with $1.7 trillion in assets under management, said net income rose to $291 million, or 86 cents per share in the fourth quarter. That compares with $249 million, or 74 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 15 percent to $1.62 billion.

Wall Street analysts had expected earnings per share of 84 cents. (Reuters)

Schwab tops $1b in yearly profit

Charles Schwab Corp.'s fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled to lift the stock brokerage's annual profit above $1 billion for the first time.

The San Francisco company said it earned $467 million, or 37 cents per share, during the final three months of 2006. That compared with net income of $187 million, or 14 cents per share, at the same time in 2005.

Revenue totaled $1.1 billion, a 14 percent increase from $964 million in the prior year. Schwab adjusted the results to focus on its remaining operations after it completes a $3.3 billion sale of its wealth-management subsidiary, U.S. Trust, to Bank of America Corp. this year.

Accounting for the deal had a major impact on fourth-quarter profit, generating a noncash tax benefit of $205 million.

If not for the tax gain, Schwab would have earned 21 cents per share -- a figure matching the analyst forecast. (AP)

Sovereign swings to $129.4m loss

Sovereign Bancorp Inc. reported a $129.4 million loss in the fourth quarter on costs from the sale of unprofitable loans and securities. The loss totaled 28 cents a share, compared with net income of $165.5 million, or 42 cents, in the same period a year earlier, the Philadelphia-based company said.

The loan and securities sales, disclosed last month, are part of chief executive Joseph Campanelli's bid to overhaul Sovereign after a 17-month feud with shareholders that culminated in the departure of his predecessor, Jay Sidhu.

By shedding $10 billion of loans and securities and using the proceeds to pay off short-term borrowings, Campanelli intends to make Sovereign less exposed to swings in interest rates.

Excluding the charges, as well as restructuring, severance, and merger costs, earnings were $167 million, or 33 cents a share. (Bloomberg)