Top 10 News Items 4/13-4/17: Financials Issuing Better-Than-Expected Results; Google, Intel Report; GE Beats the Street

April 17, 2009 3:59 PM EDT

Here is a recap of the top new items on Wall Street this week:

1. Numerous financial companies reported their quarterly earnings this week, surprising the Street with results that generally came in better-than-expected, although stock performance did not necessarily reflect the earnings numbers.

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) reported Q1 EPS of $3.39, blowing past the Street estimate of $1.64. The stock finished this week about 2% lower than last Friday's close.
  
• JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) reported Q1 EPS of $0.40, 8 cents better than the analyst estimate. Shares closed this week about 3% higher.
  
• Citigroup (NYSE: C) reported a Q1 loss of $0.18, better than the Street's $0.34 loss estimate. Shares of Citi surged more than 24% this week.
  
• Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) spiked nearly 50% on news that it expects to be profitable this quarter. Over the whole week, shares of RF jumped more than 72%.
  
• BB&T Capital (NYSE: BBT) topped the Street's Q1 estimate by 20 cents, reporting EPS of $0.51. BBT's stock rose nearly 18% this week.

2. On the tech earnings front, search-giant Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and chipmaker Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) reported this week. Google reported Q1 adj-EPS of $5.61, sharply higher than the Street estimate of $4.93. After an extremely volatile in Thursday's after-hours session and Friday's intraday session, the stock closed about flat from Thursday's close. Meanwhile, Intel also beat the Street's estimates, but traders didn't like the company's guidance. Shares of Intel fell about 2% on the results.

3. Friday morning, General Electric (NYSE: GE) reported Q1 EPS from continuing operations of $0.26 per share, above the consensus of $0.21. Revenues came in at $38.41 billion, versus the consensus of $39.83 billion. Click here to see the full report.

4. Thursday, General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP) announced that it will need to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. All day-to-day operations and business of all of the Company’s shopping centers and other properties will continue as usual.

5. The government's bank stress tests were a hot topic among traders this week, given earnings out of some of the major US financial companies. On Wednesday, the WSJ reported that the Obama administration has been considering whether it will release data related to the results of the tests. According to updates since the initial report, the Treasury will release data from the tests on May 4, but regulators will offer results to the banks at the end of April.

6. Two IPO's launched this week, marking the first time since last summer that two released during the same week. First was Bridgepoint Education (NYSE: BPI), which priced at $10.50 and traded 14% higher by the end of the week. Second was Rosetta Stone (NYSE: RST), which priced above its expected range at $18 and finished the week more than 50% higher.

7. MGM MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM) had a very volatile trading session this week. The stock surged 18% on Monday on reports that Dubai investors proposed financing to lock-in the completion of the CityCenter project. Tuesday, the stock continued higher as MGM got support to fund 100% of the project. Then, Thursday night, shares of MGM tumbled 13% as we heard reports that Carl Icahn and Oaktree Capital were pushing it to bankruptcy. Finally, just minutes before the closing bell on Friday, the WSJ reported that MGM and Dubai World reached an agreement to complete the CityCenter project. Shares surged as much as 28% on that report.

8. Shares of Dendreon (Nasdaq: DNDN) rallied about 190% this week following news that a Phase 3 IMPACT study of PROVENGE met its primary endpoint.

9. eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) announced that it plans to separate Skype from the company, beginning with an IPO that is intended to be completed in the first half of 2010.

10. Retail sales for the month of March fell 1.1, which compares to the Street consensus of up 0.3%. Last month was revised to up 0.3%, compared to the initial entry of down 0.1%.

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• Carl Icahn
• JPMorgan
• Goldman Sachs
• Citi
• BB&T Capital Markets
• Dividend
• StreetInsider.com Top 10 News Items for the Week
• Bankruptcy
• Barack Obama

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