Associated Press wrote:
Ameritrade's 4Q, Year Beat Estimates
OMAHA, Neb. - Online discount broker Ameritrade Holding Corp. beat Wall Street estimates for its fourth quarter Tuesday, touting its ability to deliver services at low cost. Its profits for the year also were better than expected.
Ameritrade earned $57.2 million, or 14 cents a share, for the three months ended Sept. 24, up from $55.1 million, or 13 cents a share, in the same period last year.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had predicted 11 cents a share in earnings for the quarter.
In early trading, Ameritrade shares were up 72 cents, or 6.2 percent, at $12.27 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Fourth-quarter revenues were $186.8 million, compared with $196.5 million last year.
For the year, Ameritrade had net income of $272.3 million, or 64 cents a share on $880.1 million in revenue, compared with net income of $136.6 million, or 32 cents a share on $713.3 million in revenue last year. Analysts had expected earnings of 61 cents a share.
"Our four best quarters in Ameritrade's history provide clear evidence of the strength of our business model and ability to achieve a record year in an unpredictable market environment," chief executive Joe Moglia said.
"Year over year revenues increased about 23 percent, but earnings increased about 100 percent," Moglia said.
Over the last few months Ameritrade has launched a new Web site design targeted to active traders and Amerivest, a series of fee-based tools designed to help people devise long-term investment plans around exchange-traded funds.
Exchange-traded funds are baskets of stocks and bonds that trade like a stock and are intended to track market indexes like the S&P 500.
ON THE NET
Ameritrade Holding Corp.:
http://www.ameritrade.com