Four Earnings Beats, Four Stocks Making A Morning Move

Four companies have reported their latest quarterly earnings since yesterday’s market close, and all four managed to top estimates, sending their shares up in morning trading. The results are a positive development for the market, as analysts have otherwise been predicting a rather gloomy earnings season. Let’s dig into the results and see what has investors pleasantly surprised by these companies.

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The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) is up by a little more than 2% today after reporting its third quarter earnings and providing positive guidance for fiscal year 2015. Revenue came in well ahead of estimates at $25.85 billion, buoyed by a 7% increase in commercial deliveries to a record 199. Earnings per share also came in well ahead of estimates at $2.52, a beat of $0.30. In addition, The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) upgraded its earnings guidance for 2015 to a range of $7.95-to-$8.15 from a previous guidance range of $7.70-to-$7.90. One of the most popular aerospace and defense stocks, The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) was in the portfolios of 44 of the elite investors that we track as of June 30.

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Let’s move on to Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI), which is in the midst of being acquired by Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL). Shares are up by over 1% despite the oil field services company reporting weak third quarter results. Revenue fell by 39% year-over-year to $3.79 billion, while the company registered a loss of $0.36 (or an adjusted loss of $0.05 per share) compared to a profit of $0.86 per share a year ago. Nonetheless, the rough times were not unexpected given its exposure to the U.S oil industry, where there’s been a broad pullback in terms of operations, as analysts had predicted a greater adjusted loss of $0.14 per share. Activist investor Jeffrey Ubben of ValueAct Capital, a supporter of the merger, recently filed an amended 13D related to his Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI) position in which he claimed that he intended to have discussions with the company regarding ways to increase shareholder value. Ubben continues to hold a 23.25 million-share stake in Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI) as of October 1.

We have the earnings reports of two more companies to get to, including a major auto manufacturer, which we’ll do on the following page.