Investment News: Money Morning

Nokia Shares Plummet on Missed Earnings; "The World" Developer Posts Quadrupled Annual Profits; Google Beats Estimates; Capital One Profit Drops 19%; TD Ameritrade Gets a Boost; Societe General Chief Steps Down; Avant Soars on Pfizer Deal; Southwest Ekes Out Profit

• Nokia Corp.’s (NOK) first-quarter earnings missed analysts’ estimates, causing the company’s stock to nosedive 13.98% to close at $28.98 in trading yesterday (Thursday). Net income for the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones rose 25% to $1.95 billion and sales increased 28%. About half of Nokia’s revenue is in dollars or closely linked currencies, Bloomberg reported.

• Nakheel PJSC, the state-own developer planning "The World" archipelago in Dubai, said its 2007 profit more than quadrupled. "We can only start recording earnings from a project after we’ve got 40% the way through construction," Nakheel’s Chief Financial Officer Kar Tung Quek, told Bloomberg. Translation: "The World" is going to be a gold mine.

• Google Inc. (GOOG), owner of the most popular search engine, reported a 30% increase in first-quarter profit after international expansion countered a slowdown in U.S. advertising spending. Net income jumped to $1.31 billion from $1 billion a year earlier, the company said today in a statement.

• Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) said yesterday (Thursday) that profit fell 19% in the first quarter, as higher credit costs outweighed an increase in revenue, the Associated Press reported. The company reported earnings of $548.5 million, or $1.47 per share, for the January-March period, and $3.87 billion in revenue.

• Online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD) said yesterday (Thursday) that second-quarter profit jumped 32% on strong trading activity and growth in its asset-based revenue, the Associated Press reported. The company earned $186.7 million in the quarter that ended March 31, up from $141.1 million a year ago.

• Societe Generale SA (OTC: SCGLY), the French bank still reeling from a multi-billion dollar rogue trader scandal, announced yesterday (Thursday) that its Chief Executive, Daniel Bouton, would step down, but remains on as non-executive chairman. Frédéric Oudea, the chief financial officer, will succeed Bouton, The New York Times reported.

• Avant Immunotherapeutics Inc. (AVAN) inked a deal with Pfizer Inc. (PFE) valued at $50 million to develop a potential brain cancer treatment, MSN Money reported. Avant has the potential to earn an additional $390 million if it meets certain development and commercialization milestones. Avant shares soared 16% with a $1.67 gain to close at $11.72 yesterday (Thursday).

• Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) profit fell 63% in the first quarter, but the carrier was still able to show a profit of $34 million for a quarter where other major airlines are posting losses due to record-high fuel costs. Southwest shares gained 11 cents, a 0.88% increase, to close at $12.61.

April 18th, 2008

Why Gold Will Surpass $2,500

Few investors realize that inflation is the least of the factors driving the bull market in gold. Other factors, like Venezuela's crackdown on gold exports, are likely to push prices higher. Find out how to play each of the "7 Key Drivers" in our Money Morning Publisher's Series report... Go here to get it for free.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 1:22 pm and is filed under Global Business Roundup, Global Roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Due to the amount of comments we receive Money Morning will not be able to respond to all questions. If you have not already registered to leave a comment, once doing so you will receive Money Morning's Daily Email. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.