Visteon 1Q Income_Falls $116 Million...But that's Good News 2001 Style

How can a precipitous 1Q earnings drop be good news? When Wall Street expected it to be worse…sooooo its good news...sounds DOT COMMY to me.

The company reported 2001 first quarter earnings of $31 million, or $0.24 per share, which comes in well below earnings of $147 million, or $1.13 per share, in the first quarter of 2000. Nonetheless, the $0.24 per-share earnings in the 2001 period exceeded consensus analyst expectations of $0.17, according to the Thomson Financial Network.

Visteon ended the 2001 first quarter with $1.1 billion in cash and marketable securities. Operating income fell from $253 million in the 2000 period to $68 million in the recently completed quarter.