Zillow Inc. will sell shares for $20 each in IPO today

Real estate listing and information service Zillow Inc. says it will sell its shares for $20 apiece in its initial public offering today.

That’s $2 higher than the top of the range it predicted on Friday.

The company, based in Seattle, says it will sell roughly 3.5 million shares, meaning it aims to raise just over $69.2 million through the public sale of common stock. It also plans a private placement of about 275,000 common shares, which would raise about $5.5 million more.

All told, the company expects to tally about $74.7 million, above the $71.6 million it said it expected to raise on Friday.

Shares will trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “Z.”

 

Apple reports record profit; stock hits an all-time high

Powered by its strongest-ever sales of its iPhone and iPad devices, Apple Inc. reported record earnings Tuesday, soon after its stock hit an all-time high for the second day in a row during regular trading.

Apple’s profit and revenue numbers far exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, and the stock shot up still more in after-hours trading.

The most valuable technology company by stock market value at close to $348 billion, Apple is now closing in on Exxon Mobil Corp., the last remaining company with a higher market value, at $414 billion.

Apple more than doubled its profit over the same quarter a year earlier, to $7.31 billion from $3.25 billion, and saw an 82 percent increase in revenue, to $28.57 billion from $15.70 billion a year earlier.

 

Airbus, Boeing expected to split American’s order

American Airlines is expected to announce today an order for more than 200 single-aisle airplanes, likely split between Airbus and Boeing Co.

The sales competition pits Boeing’s 737 jets against Airbus’s A320 family. American has long been an exclusively Boeing airline, but according to two aviation industry insiders familiar with developments, Airbus came close to finalizing a deal for the entire order.

To head off that possibility, Boeing within the past 10 days gave American a new proposal that offers the Renton, Wash.-built 737 jet equipped with next-generation engines.

The offer of a re-engined 737 is a major shift in Boeing’s recent strategic thinking that signals it will delay the option of building an all-new airplane.

 

Tobacco industry will likely hike prices, launch products

Raising prices and introducing new products, especially varieties of smokeless tobacco, remain key growth strategies for tobacco companies as smokers worldwide increasingly face tax hikes, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma, research firm Euromonitor International said Tuesday.

Euromonitor estimates the tobacco industry’s 2010 retail revenue at $660 billion, almost the same as the previous year. Most of that came from selling more than 5.71 trillion cigarettes, analysts said.

Cigarette volumes are expected grow nearly 7 percent by 2015 with increases in emerging markets, including the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, where tobacco controls are relatively weak. Declines are expected in more-developed countries with tighter tobacco controls, where Euromonitor expects volume fall 9 percent by 2015.

 

Coca-Cola’s earnings report sends stock to 52-week high

Coca-Cola Co.’s second-quarter profit rose 18 percent on strong growth overseas and the acquisition of a bottler. The results beat expectations and the company’s stock hit a 52-week high Tuesday.

The world’s largest beverage maker has shown consistent growth for years because of major gains in emerging markets such as Latin America, India and China.