Third-quarter earnings of the 30 blue-chip companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average may slip 1.3% from the second quarter of 2010, according to the average estimates of securities analysts compiled by Dow Jones Indexes.
The total of the average estimates is $27.08 a share for the Dow companies, compared with actual reported earnings in the second quarter of $27.45, which were the highest since mid-2007.
According to Dow Jones Indexes' data, released on September 7, 17 of the Dow companies — slightly more than half — are expected to report lower earnings than they reported in the second period, while 13 should report higher earnings.
Overall, the projected earnings should be up 27% from those reported in the third quarter of 2009, when the 30 Dow companies earned $21.28 a share.
"The earnings estimates clearly reflect the widely acknowledged slowdown in economic recovery," said John Prestbo, executive director and editor, Dow Jones Indexes, in a statement.
Of the companies forecasted to report lower earnings, the average expected decline is 18%. The range is from a 3% drop (for Boeing Co.) to a 74% plunge (for DuPont Co.).
