IHOP earnings rise

(Reuters) - Wall Street analysts, on average, had been expecting the pancake restaurant operator to earn 60 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.




IHOP earlier this month said it would buy bar-and-grill chain Applebee's for $1.9 billion.


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U.S. Stocks Retreat on Earnings; DuPont, Countrywide Financial, Apple Drop

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks slid after Countrywide
Financial Corp. reported slumping profits from the housing rout
and analysts said demand for Apple Inc.'s iPhone is diminishing.

Countrywide, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, plunged the
most in almost a year on earnings that missed analysts'
estimates. DuPont Co., the third-biggest U.S. chemical maker,
posted its steepest drop since 2005 after it said demand
weakened for paint and countertops. Concern that the iPhone,
which Apple expects to be its third-largest business, won't meet
forecasts sent the shares to the biggest slide in six weeks.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Applebee's, Armor, Coach, Mission West, Verizon: U.S. Equity Preview

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares may have unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
today. This preview includes news that broke after exchanges
closed on July 13. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company
names. Share prices are as of 7:30 a.m. New York time.

Applebee's International Inc. (APPB US) rose 61 cents, or
2.5 percent, to $24.99. Ihop Corp., the biggest U.S. pancake-
house chain, agreed to buy the restaurant chain for about $1.9
billion in cash. Ihop will pay $25.50 a share, 4.6 percent more
than Applebee's closing price on July 13, the companies said in a
statement distributed by Business Wire.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

UPDATE 1-IHOP says to buy Applebee's for $2.1 billion

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 16 - Pancake restaurant IHOP Corp. plans to buy Applebee's International Inc. for $25.50 per share, the companies said on Monday.



The companies said the deal was worth $2.1 billion. Based on the number of outstanding shares in Applebee's latest quarterly filing, the deal would be worth $1.9 billion.


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U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance; Apple, Costco Wholesale Shares Climb

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures rose on
speculation that Apple Inc.'s initial iPhone sales beat analyst
estimates and that factory orders held near a 13-month high.

Apple gained after shoppers bought as many as 500,000
iPhones over the weekend, according to a Piper Jaffray
estimate. Costco Wholesale Corp., the largest U.S. warehouse
club, climbed after Goldman, Sachs & Co. recommended buying the
stock.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Universal Music declines long-term iTunes deal: source

(Reuters) - The music company could now agree to offer significant portions of its repertoire exclusively to new partners, potentially weakening Apple's dominant hold on digital music retail.




The two sides had extended a previous two-year agreement by 12 months last summer, and that deal expired last month, the source said.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

iPhone sellers open doors, greeted by cheers

(Reuters) - Apple stores became magnets for technology enthusiasts who waited for the phones to go on sale at 6 p.m. local time in each U.S. time zone.




More than 600 people were lined up at two Apple stores in New York, and the crowd cheered at one of them as the doors opened. Smaller groups of several dozen customers waited outside AT&T stores. AT&T Inc. is the phone's exclusive wireless carrier for the next two years.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Apple giving free iPhones to employees

(Reuters) - Chief Executive Steve Jobs announced the gift in a meeting with employees on Thursday. Employees will get the high-end model with 8 gigabytes of storage, worth $600.




"That's the good news. The bad news is that he wants the first wave to go to customers. Employees will probably get their phones at the end of July," said one Apple staffer who declined to be identified.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

U.S. Stocks Advance After Inflation Gauge Slows; Research In Motion Surges

(Bloomberg) -- Most U.S. stocks gained after a
government report showed inflation cooled and telephone
companies rallied on demand for BlackBerrys and iPhones.

Research In Motion Ltd., the maker of the BlackBerry e-mail
phone, surged to a record after it reported earnings that topped
analysts' estimates. Apple Inc. climbed on the day its iPhone
goes on sale in the U.S. AT&T Inc., the iPhone's service
provider, rose for a fifth day.


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Palm quarterly profit drops, expects iPhone effect

(Reuters) - Palm also said it could post a small loss on declining revenue this quarter due to slow summer sales and fears that Apple Inc.'s widely anticipated iPhone -- due to launch on Friday -- would temporarily hurt demand for Treos.




"It's likely that as people try out, there may be some stall in our sell-through," Palm Chief Executive Ed Colligan told Reuters in an interview.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

AT&T Embrace of IPhone Threatens to Torpedo Sprint's Recovery, Share Price

(Bloomberg) -- Cary Fabrikant's devotion to Apple
Inc. spells trouble for his cellular carrier, Sprint Nextel Corp.

Fabrikant, a Miami sports agent, plans to forfeit $200 and
switch to AT&T Inc. to get an iPhone, Apple's blend of an iPod
music player with a mobile phone, when it goes on sale June 29.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

Apple IPhone, on Sale This Week, May Set Investors Up for Disappointment

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc., whose market value passed
$100 billion in May as euphoria mounted over its iPhone, may be
facing investor expectations that are too high.

Apple may sell as many as 200,000 iPhones in the product's
first two days on the market this week and as many as 3 million
in the second half of the year, according to the most optimistic
analyst estimates. Apple, in its only public forecast, says it
plans to sell 10 million next year.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance; Apple, Google Shares Climb in Europe

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures advanced
after brokerages recommended buying shares of Apple Inc., the
maker of the iPod music and video player, and Google Inc., owner
of the world's most popular Internet search engine.

Oracle Corp., the world's third-largest software maker,
gained before reporting fourth-quarter earnings.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Are Little Changed; Apple Shares Rise in Europe

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures were little
changed before a report that may show purchases of new homes in
the U.S. probably dropped in May.

Apple Inc., whose market value passed $100 billion in May
as euphoria mounted over its iPhone, rose in Germany after RBC
Capital Markets recommended buying the stock. Shares of Nike
Inc., the biggest athletic-shoe maker, declined in Europe before
reporting earnings.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

AT&T says 40 pct of iPhone inquirers not its clients

(Reuters) - CHICAGO, June 19 - About 40 percent of people seeking information about Apple Inc.'s soon-to-be-released iPhone are not AT&T Inc.'s wireless customers, the phone company's Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said on Tuesday.



AT&T has an exclusive agreement to sell the eagerly anticipated device that combines a cell phone with the popular iPod digital music player.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News

ICE bid for CBOT faces uphill battle, analysts say

(Reuters) - "While ICE's bid is superior financially, we get the sense that many CBOT members and long term holders would like to go with CME, given possibly greater integration and competitive risks from CME associated with an ICE deal," Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. analysts Rob Rutschow and Scott Appleby wrote in a research note.




Atlanta-based energy exchange ICE in March offered to buy the Chicago Board of Trade's parent, topping an earlier offer by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc., the largest U.S. futures mart.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Apple, Dyax, Netflix, Qwest, Taser, Valeant: U.S. Equity Movers Final

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares had unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges. Stock
symbols are in parentheses after company names. Share prices are
as of 4 p.m. New York time.

Apple Inc. (AAPL US) fell $4.30, or 3.5 percent, to $120.19.
Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs announced that he would not to
give developers a kit that would allow them to write specialized
programs for the iPhone. Instead he said they will be able to
write Web-based programs that iPhone users can access through
Apple's Safari browser. ``Some developers will be disappointed
that they won't be able to create specialized applications that
run on the iPhone,'' said Gene Munster, a Piper Jaffray & Co.
analyst.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News

Yahoo to provide music services for Sandisk player

(Reuters) - The device, first introduced in January, is now available for sale in the United States, according to Sandisk, which says it is the No. 2 seller in the U.S. of MP3 players, behind Apple Inc.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Apple revs up Mac attacks

For nearly a year, television and internet audiences have been seeing a familiar string of ads from Apple attacking rival Windows-based computers. With this week's release of Windows Vista, the newest jabs are not any friendlier.

In one ad, the character personifying the PC is dressed in hospital patient garb, talking about how he is set to undergo major surgery to upgrade to Vista. He then saunters off, telling the Mac character that if he does not come back, Mac can have his peripherals.
In another ad, a man pretending to be the Mac character heaps praises for the PC - until the real Mac character steps in, confounded, asking "What's going on?" The fake Mac replies, "Nothing," and then mutters "I'm a fan" as he walks away.
On its own website, Apple Inc tells visitors to get a Mac, stating, "Why upgrade to Vista when you can upgrade past it?"

Microsoft launched Vista on Tuesday, its first major overhaul to the Windows operating system in five years. It features sleek new graphics, better search capabilities, improved security measures and multimedia tools, as well as more advanced parental controls and gaming support.

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