Owens Corning reverses year-ago loss with first-quarter profit of $48M

Owens Corning surprises; shares jump

TOLEDO, Ohio — Shares of Owens Corning skyrocketed Wednesday after the building materials company breezed past Wall Street expectations for the first quarter and upped its profit expectations for the year.

Shares rose nearly 13 percent, hitting a 52-week high.

After being pummeled by during the worst of the housing crisis, Owens Corning said it had reversed a loss from one year ago and earned a profit of $48 million, or 38 cents per share, during the first quarter. The company had losses of $28 million, or 23 cents a share, a year earlier.

Much of the rebound was led by composites, which are not as closely tied to the housing market.

“Owens Corning is off to a strong start in 2010,” said Mike Thaman, chairman and CEO. “We demonstrated leverage in our composites business, driving a return to healthy profit levels. We continued our strong momentum in roofing, generating first-quarter margins of 24 percent.”

Adjusted earnings per share were 42 cents, well above the 15 cents per share that was expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

The company expects full-year adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of as much as $450 million, or about $2 per share. That tops both its previous estimate of $1.43, and analysts estimates of $1.54 a share on revenue of $5.03 billion.

Shares in Owens Corning Inc. rose $3.87 to $33.67, and at one point hit $33.94.