Earnings Up, Stocks Down

Wall Street's bull showed more concern last week over the coming exchange of visits between President Eisenhower and Premier Khrushchev (see NATIONAL AFFAIRS) than joy in the continued outpouring of record earnings. Some investors in companies with big defense contracts, or in the missile-and space-based electronics industry, dumped their stocks. They felt that any warming in the cold war might bring a cutback in defense orders, even though most Wall Streeters believe that an end to the cold war would be bullish, since it would open the way for a cut in the U.S. budget and in taxes. The Dow-Jones industrial averages dropped 6.31 points in the week, led downward by the electronics stocks. Electronics manufacturers were flying high; Texas Instruments reported alltime-high second-half earnings of $1.62 per share v. 66-c- last year. Its stock dropped 20 3/8 points during the week to close at 126 1/8. Volatile Fairchild Camera & Instrument Corp. announced first-half earnings of $1.61 per share v. a $104,000 loss last year, but its shares fell 23 points to 155.

Even stocks of electronics makers who sell chiefly to consumers sold off easily. Zenith Radio Corp. established a first-half record with earnings of $1.66 per share v. $1.01 last year, but lost 14 1/8 points during the week. Philco Corp. came back from a $1,400,000 loss in the first half last year to earn 54-c- per share for the first six months of 1959, was off 2 7/8 for the week. Motorola, which set a second-half record with $3.04 per share v. 76-c- last year, dipped seven points.

Other half-year earnings (per share):

Oils 1958 1959

Standard Oil Co. (Indiana) $1.47 $2.20

Standard Oil Co. (Ohio) 2.29 2.67

Atlantic Refining Co. .78 1.74

Food & Beverages

National Dairy Products Corp. 1.62 1.68

Coca-Cola Co. 3.21 3.49

Miscellaneous

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. 3.08 4.61

Merritt-Chapman & Scott Corp. .65 .92

Dan River Mills, Inc. .49 .57

Minnesota Mining & Mfg. Co. 1.05 1.62

Hertz Corp. .52 1.04

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