Stocks finish slightly higher as Citi, GE report earnings

By JON OGG Posted 4:30 PM 04/17/09

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General Electric climbed and Citigroup fell after each announced first-quarter results this morning, and a key gauge of consumers' mood registered its highest reading since September, with the net effect of pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average up six points, or 0.07 percent, to 8,131.

American Express (AXP) posted the biggest gains of any of the Dow's 30 component stocks, jumping some 5.4 percent ahead of its first-quarter earnings announcement on Monday.

Stocks making moves today:

Citigroup (C) posted a net profit at $1.59 billion on items and net loss came to -$0.18 EPS after converting $12.5 billion in convertible preferred stock. Revenues for the quarter were $24.79 billion. Estimates were -$0.34 EPS and $21.94 billion in revenues. Shares were down 6% at $3.76 late in the day.

General Electric (GE) posted a 35% drop in earnings, but the numbers did come in ahead of estimates by 5 cents per share. Even its financial operations posted that profit of more than $1 billion. Shares were up 2% at $12.53 late in the day.

DryShips (DRYS) rose sharply after the shipper had two bits of good news. It received an upgrade from an analyst at Oppenheimer, who raised the rating to an "Outperform" in its coverage this morning. The firm also raised $500 million in capital. Shares were up a whopping 29% at $7.17 late in the day.

Electronic Arts (ERTS) has said that its Madden Football franchise will continue. There had been some concerns that the announcement of Madden's retirement from the NFL would cause a brand change. Shares were down almost 2% at $18.68 late in the day.

Mattel (MAT) said that earnings were a tad light and its losses were wider than before. The loss reported was -$0.14 EPS vs. -$0.13 estimates. Barbie sales were even down 5%. Shares were up 14% at $14.87 late in the day as this was "good enough."

Google (GOOG) was up 1% at $393.79 late in the trading day after the company beat earnings last night. There were some issues, and that is why this was off of the $410.00 highs from immediately after the report in after-hours trading yesterday.