Cubist profit rises on 52% sales surge

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Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. said third-quarter profit surged on a 52 percent increase in sales of the antibiotic Cubicin.

The Lexington company earned $20 million, or 32 cents per share, compared to $5.2 million, or 9 cents per share, during the same period a year prior. Excluding stock-based compensation and other charges, profit was 41 cents per share.

Revenue rose 58 percent to $79.8 million from $50.4 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 25 cents per share on revenue of $76 million. Analysts typically exclude special items from their estimates.

Cubicin is Cubist's only product on the market. Sales of the antibiotic jumped 52 percent to $76.3 million from $50.3 million. Other revenue accounted for just under $3.5 million. (AP)

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EBay Inc. reported a third-quarter loss of more than $936 million - a rare plunge into the red for the e-commerce juggernaut - caused by previously disclosed charges to its Skype telecommunications division.

But eBay still easily exceeded Wall Street's expectations for the quarter ended Sept. 30, thanks to record revenue of $1.89 billion, up 30 percent from the year-ago quarter.

Executives credited record revenue at the PayPal electronic payment division and brisk sales outside of the United States and at ticket broker StubHub.com.

Not counting Skype charges, stock-based compensation expenses, and other one-time costs, earnings were $563.8 million, or 41 cents per share, up 53 percent from $367.4 million, or 26 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

On that basis, which does not comply with generally accepted accounting principles, analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of $456.26 million, or 33 cents per share, on revenue of $1.83 billion. (AP)

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Teradyne Inc., the world's largest maker of chip-testing equipment, said third-quarter profit from continuing operations declined 47 percent on lower sales.

Net income from continuing operations fell to $35.2 million, or 19 cents a share, from $66.3 million, or 34 cents, a year ago, Boston-based Teradyne said. A Bloomberg survey of nine analysts had an average estimate of 18 cents.

Sales declined 15 percent to $299.5 million.

For the fourth quarter, Teradyne forecast profit of 4 to 10 cents a share on sales of $250 million to $275 million. (Bloomberg)

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Sovereign Bancorp Inc. said third-quarter earnings fell 68 percent hurt by an increase in loan-loss provisions resulting from problems in its nonprime home equity portfolio and indirect auto lending.

Third-quarter earnings dropped to $58.2 million, or 11 cents per share, from $184 million, or 37 cents per share, during year-ago quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, forecast earnings of 14 cents per share.

The bank's credit-loss provision skyrocketed to $162.5 million from $45 million during the 2006 third quarter.

Net interest income, the difference between how much it costs a bank to borrow money and how much it receives from lending money, declined to $456.8 million, from $491.8 million.

Noninterest income, money derived from fees and other charges, fell to $141.4 million from $171.9 million last year. (AP)

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Altria Group Inc. said profit fell 8.4 percent in the third quarter but operating income rose 18.9 percent.

The company behind top-selling Marlboro cigarettes also raised its full-year earnings guidance.

Net profit for the July-September quarter fell to $2.63 billion, or $1.24 a share, compared to $2.88 billion, or $1.36 per share, in the same period last year.

Excluding one-time costs, earnings per share were up 13.1 percent to $1.21 compared to $1.07 last year, and beat a consensus prediction of $1.14 per share from analysts polled by Thomson Financial. Those estimates usually exclude one-time charges. One-time items included 5 cents per share for a favorable tax benefit and a 2 cents per share charge, mainly for the closure of a factory in North Carolina.

Revenue grew to $19.21 billion, up 8.9 percent from $17.64 billion a year ago. (AP)

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JPMorgan Chase & Co., the third-biggest US bank, reported third quarter profit that exceeded analysts' estimates on private-equity gains, higher asset management fees, and lower compensation expenses.

Net income rose 2.3 percent to $3.4 billion, or 97 cents a share, even after investment banking profit sank 70 percent and the firm wrote down the value of loans for leveraged buyouts by $1.3 billion. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 90 cents.

Revenue climbed 3.6 percent to $16.1 billion, just short of the average analyst estimate of $16.2 billion. (Bloomberg)