Company News for July 30, 2009

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS - Analyst Report) raised General Electric (NYSE:GE - Analyst Report) to "buy" and upped its price target on the firm to $15 from $13

• American Express (NYSE:AXP - Analyst Report) joined the ranks of banks buying back TARP-issued warrants, as it paid the Treasury $340 million, providing the government a 26% return on its investment.  Other firms include Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS - Analyst Report), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Analyst Report), and State Street (NYSE:STT - Analyst Report)

• Sumitomo Trust announced plans to acquire Citigroup's (NYSE:C - Analyst Report) entire stake in Nikko Asset Management for $1.2 billion

• Sanofi-Aventis announced it agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Merck's (NYSE:MRK - Analyst Report) animal health venture for $4 billion

• Visa (NYSE:V - Analyst Report) reported earnings, ex-items, of 67 cents a share, ahead of Street projections of 64 cents on revenues of $1.6 billion, versus estimates of $1.64 billion

• Motorola (NYSE:MOT) topped estimates for the second quarter with adjusted results of a one cent loss versus estimates of a 4 cent loss.  The company also provided third quarter guidance of a 1-cent loss to a 1-cent profit, with Street estimates at a 1-cent loss. Revenues of $5.5 billion missed estimates of $5.6 billion

• International Paper (NYSE:IP - Analyst Report) reported second quarter earnings of 20 cents a share, beating estimates by 20 cents, on in-line revenues, off 0.1% to $5.8 billion

• Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Analyst Report) topped estimates by 2 cents, on earnings of $1.04, as in-line revenues of $3.75 billion fell 5.5%

• Mylan (NYSE:MYL - Analyst Report) beat projections by 2 cents, posting second quarter earnings of 32 cents a share, as revenues rose 5% to $1.3 billion

• Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW - Analyst Report) earned a nickel in its second quarter versus an expected 8 cent loss, although revenues fell short at $11.3 billion compared to estimates of $13 billion
Travelers (NYSE:TRV - Analyst Report) missed expectations with second quarter results of $1.25, off estimates of $1.28, on in-line revenues of $6.2 billion. Guidance for the year was raised to a range of $4.80-$5.05, still under consensus projections of $5.17

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