First Half: Good

Wall Streeters had expected corporate earnings to be good for the second quarter. But the flood of reports that came out last week equaled or exceeded their expectations. A sampling of more than 100 companies which reported for the second quarter (or for the first six months) showed higher profits than a year ago for 77% of the list.

Typical of the good news was Douglas Aircraft, whose stock jumped 3 1/8 points in a few hours after the earnings statement was released. Reason: net profit for the six months ended May 31 was $10,042,975 on sales of $459 million; both gross and net were more than double those for the same period a year ago. The quarterly dividend was boosted from 75-c- to $1, and an extra dividend of $1.50 was declared. Though President Donald Douglas warned that the rest of the year might not be so good, the stock edged up another 1 7/8 points by week's end.

Record for G.E. Steelmakers, hit by strikes in the second quarter of 1952, boosted profits sharply this year as mills worked at capacity. Republic Steel's President Charles White reported a net of $14,931,475 v. $4,502,543 in last year's second quarter. Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp. earned $2,163,275 for the quarter v. $889,425, and Pittsburgh Steel Co. reported first half earnings of $3,826,612 v. $674,891 a year ago.

In spite of grumblings about slow appliance sales, General Electric reported a whopping $1,560,448,000 in sales for the first six months, an alltime high. Net profit for the period, said President Ralph J. Cordiner, was up 32% to $75,417,000. American Airlines profits, reflecting the air travel boom, rose from $5,099,000 in the first half of last year to $6,658,000, President C. R. Smith reported.

General Lucius D. Clay, chairman of Continental Can, announced sales and earnings in the first six months of 1953 were highest in the company's history. Net of $6,911,364 in the period compared with $4,202,036 last year. General Foods earnings for the second quarter were up from $5,317,523 to $5,953,765, though H. J. Heinz Co. reported lower net profits on higher sales for the year ended April 29. In the drugstore field, United Cigar-Whelan Stores Corp. reported higher net income, in spite of a sales decline of almost $3,000,000. About 80% of the railroads (most of them reporting for the first five months) and utilities (mostly for the year ended June 30) showed improved net income.

Back in Focus. Even the movie industry was looking up. Loew's Inc. had a profit of $1,014,142 for the twelve weeks ended June 4, v. $740,817 a year ago; in the 26 weeks ended April 24, Republic Pictures Corp. net was up from $379,551 a year ago to $473,150. Polaroid Corp., which makes glasses for three-dimensional pictures, reported that sales almost doubled and earnings almost tripled ($2.34 per share v. 78-c- a year ago) in the first six months.

Most of the companies that reported smaller profits this year were off by only a small margin, e.g., Industrial Rayon Corp., down from $2.35 a share to $2.33. A few companies reported deficits. One of the biggest: Lehigh Valley Coal Corp., which lost $1,146,019 in the first half v. a net loss of $569,093 a year ago.

Dividends kept pace with higher earnings. Corporations distributed about $4 billion in dividends during the first half, up 4% from a year ago, the Commerce Department reported last week. And in June alone, dividend disbursements were $1,250,000,000, 6% higher than last year.

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