NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Please find below the new Quarterly Dow Jones Industrial Average Earnings Analysis. Dow Jones Indexes will provide this service going forward at the end of each quarter.
Third-Quarter Dow Jones Industrial Average Earnings Analysis
Third-quarter earnings of the 30 blue-chip companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average will slip 1.3% from the second quarter, according to the average estimates of securities analysts.
The total of average estimates is $27.08 a share for the Dow companies, compared with actual reported earnings in the second quarter of $27.45 – which were the highest since mid-2007.
Data compiled by Dow Jones Indexes shows 17 of the Dow companies are expected to report lower earnings than they reported in the second period, while 13 are estimated to be higher. However, the projected earnings would be up 27% from those reported in the third quarter of 2009, when the 30 Dow companies earned $21.28 a share.
"The earnings estimates clearly reflect the widely acknowledged slowdown in economic recovery," said John Prestbo, executive director and editor, Dow Jones Indexes.
Of the companies forecasted to report lower earnings, the average expected decline is 18%. The range is from a 3% drop (for Boeing Co.) to a 74% plunge (for DuPont Co.).
The average increase for those companies expected to report higher earnings is 35%, ranging from a gain of 1.5% (for Travelers Cos. ) to a leap of 242% (for Merck & Co.) – not including Verizon Communications Inc., which is expected to report a profit of 54 cents a share against a quarter-earlier loss of 7 cents a share.
Dow Jones Indexes, which calculates and distributes the Dow Jones Industrial Average, is a joint venture of CME Group Inc. and Dow Jones & Co., a News Corp. company.
Journalists may e-mail questions regarding this report to PR-Indexes@dowjones.com.
