Sears Holdings Corp.The retailer's third-quarter loss nearly doubled, dragged down by weak sales of appliances and clothing at its long-suffering Sears chain. Business at its Kmart discount stores held up better, but a key revenue measure edged downward. The miserable results renewed discussion on Wall Street on why the two chains combined in 2005 in the first place. Sears Holdings posted a loss of $218 million, or $1.98 per share. That compares with a loss of $127 million, or $1.09 per share, in the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected $1.08 per share. Revenue fell 5 percent to $9.68 billion, short of analyst expectations of $9.89 billion. Revenue at stores open at least a year dropped 4.8 percent in the quarter, driven mostly by an 8.2 percent decline at Sears. The figure fell 0.7 percent at Kmart stores.
Gap Inc.The owner of the Old Navy, Gap and Banana Republic clothing chains says its third-quarter net income fell 1 percent, though increases in online and international sales helped drive revenue up 2 percent. The retailer said Thursday its net income was $303 million, or 48 cents per share, for the period that ended Oct. 30. That compares with $307 million, or 44 cents per share, a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 9 percent despite lower net income because the number of diluted shares fell 11 percent from the same period last year as Gap bought back $1.4 billion worth of shares. Gap Inc. says its third-quarter revenue rose 2 percent to $3.65 billion. But revenue at stores open at least a year was flat. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters on average expected earnings of 48 cents per share on revenue of $3.58 billion.
Dell Inc.The personal computer maker said its net income for the latest quarter more than doubled as companies spent more to replace aging technology. Businesses of all sizes, plus government agencies and other public-sector customers, spent more with Dell in the quarter. Large-enterprise revenue jumped 27 percent to $4.3 billion from a year ago, and small-and-medium-business revenue rose 24 percent to $3.7 billion. Public-sector revenue rose 20 percent to $4.4 billion. Revenue from consumers, Dell's smallest customer segment in the quarter, increased 4 percent to $3 billion. For the fiscal third quarter, which ended Oct. 29, Dell's net income jumped to $822 million, or 42 cents per share, from $337 million, or 17 cents per share. Excluding a $72 million gain related to Dell's failed bid to buy data-storage maker 3Par and other items, Dell earned 45 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected Dell to earn much less -- 32 cents per share. Revenue jumped 19 percent to $15.4 billion from $12.9 billion, slightly less than the $15.8 billion analysts predicted.
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