Boeing passes expectations, shares hit record high briefly

Shares of aerospace giant Boeing Co. briefly hit an all-time high Wednesday after the company posted a larger-than-expected 13 percent jump in second-quarter profit that was driven by higher deliveries of passenger jets.

Boeing reported a profit of $1.09 billion, or $1.41 a share. Excluding pension obligations, the company earned $1.67 a share. That compares with $967 million, or $1.27 a share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 9 percent to $21.8 billion from $20 billion.

Analysts, on average, had estimated earnings of $1.58 a share on revenue of $20.8 billion.

Facebook mobile ad push pays off in second quarter

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Facebook’s stock is flying high after the world’s biggest social network posted higher revenue from mobile ads and delivered a healthy second-quarter profit that reversed a loss in the same period a year ago.

The results, which come on the heels of weaker-than-expected results from Google Inc., signal that Facebook’s aggressive push into the mobile advertising market continues to pay off. The company began showing mobile advertisements for the first time last spring. On Wednesday, Facebook said mobile ads accounted for a whopping 41 percent of its total advertising revenue.

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company’s stock jumped $4.48, or 17 percent, to $30.99 in extended trading. The shares had closed the regular trading session at $26.51. Facebook’s stock priced at $38 when the company went public in May 2012, but hasn’t hit that range since.

Prosecutors set to unveil criminal case against SAC

The Justice Department will file criminal charges as soon as Thursday against SAC Capital Advisors, once one of the country’s most successful hedge funds, following a multiyear investigation into insider trading, according to people familiar with the matter.

A number of current and former employees of the firm have already been tied to the federal investigation, but prosecutors are getting ready to unveil a criminal case against the legendary firm itself, once exalted on Wall Street for its whopping average annual returns of 25 percent.

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Justice officials are also leaving the door open to prosecuting SAC’s famous founder, Steven Cohen, as well as other individuals at the firm, according to sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity since the investigation is ongoing.

Wellpoint stock sets record ahead of health care reform

Shares of WellPoint Inc. hit an all-time high Wednesday, after the nation’s second-largest health insurer trounced second-quarter earnings expectations and detailed how it expects to benefit from the health care overhaul and other growth opportunities over the next few years.

The Indianapolis company’s stock had already climbed 44 percent so far this year as of Tuesday, as investors have grown more comfortable with both the insurer’s current performance and how the overhaul will affect it.

The federal law aims to expand insurance coverage to millions of people over the next few years. Much of that growth starts next year, when the state and federally funded Medicaid program for the poor and disabled people expands and customers start using income-based subsidies to buy individual coverage through insurance exchanges.

–From news service reports

 


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