By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – It might be a lot more fun to talk about how the SEC is just about ready to hand down formal charges against Martha Stewart, BUT it's earning season and there's a lot to report about here in North Texas. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Middays.
Already in the news, Texas Instruments reported a profit yesterday, turning around a trend of losses. Regrettably, TI lowered its forecast though for the fourth quarter and announced that 500 employees would have to be laid off, reflecting the downturn in sales. Only half of those will be from the states. They didn't pinpoint what geographic area the workers would from. In North Texas, TI employs about 11,600 people. At least they're waiting a few months to do it.
You might remember that back in August, Fort Worth-based Radio Shack announced that consumers had stopped coming into its stores. That lowered its forecast for the quarter. They were right. Before that announcement Radio Shack had expected to report earnings of 33 cents a share. This morning they announced 23 cents a share. Third quarter net income did rise 2.5%.
Dallas-based Blockbuster Inc. didn't quite make what analysts had projected - 31 cents per share versus the earnings of 28 cents that Blockbuster reported. Still for the year, it expects earnings to grow by 30%, which would be in line with analysts' expectations.
Can anything go right for Fort Worth-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe? The railroad operator's net income fell 15%. Higher costs lower revenues. It posted a net income of 51 cents a share compared to last year's 58 cents a share.
And, Money magazine was a little curious about what stocks had performed the best since the magazine first debuted 30 years ago. And guess who's number one? A hint - it's right here in North Texas. Southwest Airlines! So according their figures, "if had you invested $10,000 in Southwest 30 years ago, your stake would be worth a little over $10.2 million today." For KERA Marketplace Middays, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.