51% leap in profit is posted by Nike

Nike reported a 51-percent increase in fiscal first-quarter net income Thursday, boosted by higher revenue and future orders along with favorable exchange rates for the world's largest athletic shoe and clothing company.

Net income reached $569.7 million, or $1.12 per share for the quarter ending Aug. 31, up from $377.2 million, or 74 cents per share, for the same period a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter rose 11 percent to $4.7 billion. Changes in currency exchange rates contributed three percentage points to revenue growth for the quarter.

Orders for clothing and footwear through January rose 11.5 percent, exceeding analysts' projections, Nike said.

The increase in orders may support Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike's profit even as its U.S. customers pull back on spending in the face of high gasoline prices and slumping home sales. Nike is competing with Adidas in China, the world's fastest-growing major economy, as consumers there purchase footwear and clothes ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

"Nike is a best-in-class company, and with its global exposure, it's a play on the weak dollar," said Michael Halloran, an analyst with Allegiant Asset Management Group, which owns Nike shares among more than $10 billion under management.

Nike also may sell its Nike Bauer Hockey unit, saying it doesn't fit with the company's "long-term growth priorities." The division makes hockey sticks, skates and helmets.

Nike rose 68 cents in trading after U.S. markets had closed. Earlier, the shares fell 24 cents to $58.32. The stock has climbed 18 percent this year.

Oracle

Turmoil weathered as forecast beaten

Business software-maker Oracle overcame the recent economic turbulence that raised recession anxieties to deliver a fiscal first-quarter performance that topped analyst expectations.

The company said Thursday that it earned $840 million, or 16 cents per share, for the three months ended in August. That represented a 25 percent improvement from net income of $670 million, or 13 cents per share, at the same time last year.

If not for stock-option expenses, Oracle said it would have made 22 cents per share — a penny above the average estimate among analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Revenue for the period totaled $4.53 billion, 26 percent above last year's $3.59 billion and well above the average analyst estimate of a $4.34 billion.

Perhaps most importantly to investors, Oracle's sales of new software licenses climbed 35 percent to $1.09 billion, soaring past both management and analyst projections. It represented Oracle's most robust software sales growth during its fiscal first quarter in a decade, said Safra Catz, the company's chief financial officer.

Wall Street focuses on software sales because the new licenses establish a pipeline for future revenue from product upgrades and maintenance.

Oracle shares reached a new 52-week high of $21.31 Thursday before settling back to finish the regular session at $21.04.

Oracle stock added a penny in extended trading after the company released its first-quarter report.

Goldman Sachs

3rd-quarter results exceed outlook

Goldman Sachs on Thursday reported third-quarter results well ahead of Wall Street projections, as the world's largest investment bank realized gains from takeover advice and the sale of its holdings in an energy company.

The investment bank did take a nearly $1.5 billion hit from credit losses related to the tightening markets for a broad range of debt. But, Goldman said it "more than offset" losses from mortgage assets and leveraged-buyout loans by betting correctly that mortgage securities would continue to lose value.

Quarterly profit for the period ending Aug. 31 rose to $2.85 billion, or $6.13 per share, compared to $1.55 billion, or $3.26 per share, a year earlier.

Results topped Wall Street projections for a profit of $4.35 per share on $9.57 billion in revenue.

Shares fell $1.97 to $203.53 Thursday, after the broader markets lower.

Bear Stearns

Earnings plunge over credit woes

Bear Stearns said Thursday its profit plunged 62 percent in the third quarter as turbulence in the debt market and wrong-way bets on mortgages crunched the investment bank's credit portfolio and bond business.

The Wall Street brokerage reported third-quarter income, after paying preferred dividends, of $166.1 million, or $1.16 per share, compared with a profit of $432.2 million, or $3.02 per share, in the third quarter of 2006.

Analysts forecast a profit of $1.78 per share.

As the investment bank with the most exposure to mortgages, shares of Bear Stearns lost 9 cents to $115.55 Thursday.

Compiled from The Associated Press and Bloomberg News