futures rise

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Rise; Pixar, Netflix Gain in Europe Listen
Jan. 25 (Bloomberg)

U.S. stock-index futures rose before earnings today from companies including Colgate-Palmolive Co., the world's biggest toothpaste producer, and Xerox Corp., the largest U.S. maker of copiers.

U.S. benchmarks yesterday had their first two-day advance in two weeks after profit at United Technologies Corp. and McDonald's Corp. beat analysts' estimates. As of yesterday, 62 percent of the 135 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index that have reported quarterly earnings surpassed expectations.

``We advise buying companies that can deliver solid and reliable earnings growth,'' said Jeremy Batstone, equity strategist at Charles Stanley & Co. in London. ``After a sluggish performance, we've become more positive on U.S. stocks because valuations are not stretched.''

Pixar gained in Europe after Walt Disney Co. agreed to buy the animation studio for $7.4 billion. Netflix Inc. jumped as the No. 1 U.S. mail-order movie-rental company raised its sales forecast.

S&P 500 futures expiring in March added 3 to 1273.4 as of 10:15 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 18 to 10,750. Nasdaq-100 Index futures gained 4.5 to 1697.5.

Last week, the S&P 500 lost 2 percent as results from companies including Intel Corp., General Electric Co. and Citigroup Inc. were less than analysts estimated. Stocks have rebounded the last two days as earnings from companies such as United Technologies Corp. and McDonald's Corp. boosted sentiment.

The U.S. measure gained 3 percent in 2005, compared with advances of no less than 20 percent for European indexes.

Colgate, Xerox

Colgate-Palmolive may say before markets open today that fourth-quarter profit rose to 68 cents a share, from 59 cents, a separate Thomson survey showed. The stock slipped 19 cents to $53.56 in Germany.

Xerox may say fourth-quarter profit rose to 32 cents per share, from 24 cents a year earlier. The shares fell 6 cents to $14.40.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., the fifth-biggest U.S. drugmaker, ConocoPhillips, the No. 3 U.S. oil company, and BellSouth Corp., the third-largest U.S. local-telephone carrier, all report before the open of trading.

More than 140 companies in the S&P 500 are due to release results this week, the busiest period for fourth-quarter earnings.

Pixar, Disney

Pixar, Steve Jobs'sÿanimation studio, rose $2.07 to $59.64 in Germany. Disney, the second-largest U.S. media company, will pay about $59.78 a share for Pixar in a transaction expected to be completed in the middle of the year, the companies said. That's a 3.8 percent premium over Emeryville, California-based Pixar's closing stock price of $57.57.

Shares in Disney dropped 21 cents to $25.78.

Netflix climbed $3.02, or 12 percent, to $27.76. The company said yesterday it expects to have 5.9 million subscribers in 2006, up from an earlier estimate of 5.65 million. The company raised its revenue forecast to $960 million. A tax gain of $30.2 million contributed most of the profit increase.

Net income at the Los Gatos, California-based company climbed to 57 cents a share, from 9 cents a year earlier. Sales for the quarter ended Dec. 31 rose 36 percent to $195 million.

Corning Inc., the biggest maker of glass for liquid crystal displays, lost $1.96 to $22.29. The company posted a fourth- quarter loss on tax-related expenses and forecast first-quarter profit, excluding some costs, of 21 cents to 23 cents. The forecast is less than 23 cents a share estimate in a Thomson Financial survey of analysts.

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson added 55 cents to $59.91. The world's biggest maker of medical devices let a midnight deadline pass without announcing a sweetened buyout offer for defibrillator maker Guidant Corp. Guidant shares didn't trade in Europe.

Rediff.com India Ltd. more than doubled to $35.44 in Germany, from its U.S. close of $15.09. The Mumbai-based Internet portal was recommended by CNBC host Jim Cramer on his ``Mad Money'' show because of the growing economy and use of computers in India.

Among economic data due today, sales of previously owned homes dropped for a third straight month in December, a report is expected to show.

Sales of existing homes fell to a 6.87 million annual pace last month, the slowest since March, from a 6.97 million rate in November, a report from the National Association of Realtors may show, according to estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. That would be down from a record 7.35 million rate in June. The report is due at 10:00 a.m. in Washington.

U.S. stocks yesterday staged their first two-day advance since a New Year's rally peaked on Jan. 11. The S&P 500 added 0.2 percent to 1266.86. The Dow average also rose 0.2 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.8 percent.