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NEW YORK -- A number of auto parts suppliers saw their shares rise Wednesday, after Johnson Controls Inc. kicked off the sector's first-quarter earnings announcements by reporting that it beat Wall Street profit expectations. Not surprisingly, Johnson Controls posted the largest gain of the pack, with shares zooming to a new 52-week high of $82.19. Over the last year, shares had previously traded between $53.10 and $77.92. In afternoon trading, the Milwaukee-based maker of car seats and environmental control systems, was up $6.56, or 9 percent, to $81.39 on the New York Stock Exchange. Johnson Controls fiscal second-quarter earnings of $165 million, or 84 cents per share, were down from a profit of $203 million, or $1.04 per share, for the same quarter in 2005. However, income from continuing operations totaled $162 million, or 83 cents per share, beating Wall Street's expectations of 75 cents per share. The company added that it expects to beat analyst expectations for the fiscal third quarter, predicting earnings of $1.65 to $1.70 per share, ahead of Wall Street's expectation of $1.58 per share. Johnson Controls also boosted its full-year forecast to $5.25 to $5.35 per share, including a 22- to 24-cent per share tax benefit, from a prior view of $5 to $5.15 per share. Analysts expect the company to earn $5.02 per share. David Leiker of Baird U.S. Equity Research issued a report Wednesday maintaining his "Outperform" rating and $83 price target for the company, adding that investors should aggressively buy shares when their price falls below $75. "The company has a well-diversified customer mix (domestic original equipment manufacturers are less than 25 percent of revenue) with among the greatest exposure to foreign automakers in the group," Leiker wrote in a note to investors. "Additionally, the company has put together and excellent track record with only nominal disruption to the earnings stream during the latest downturn." Visteon Corp. also made significant gains, after the company announced that it had hired a new executive to focus on ways to promote its long-term growth. Shares of the Van Buren Township, Mich.-based company were up 37 cents, or nearly 8 percent, to $5.08 on the NYSE, after topping out at $5.10 earlier in the session. Visteon said earlier in the day that it had hired Asaf Farashuddin, formerly the head of corporate strategy for Cummins Inc., a Columbus, Ind.-based diesel-engine maker, as its vice president for corporate strategy. Part of Farashuddin's job will be helping with the auto supplier's current restructuring plan, Visteon said. Visteon's fortunes are significantly tied to that of its former parent, Ford Motor Co., which made up half of Visteon's sales last year. The nation's No. 2 automaker, which has cut production and is looking for new suppliers in an attempt to reduce costs, reports its first-quarter results on Friday. Shares of Lear Corp., which is slated to report its results on April 26, were up $2.39, or 13 percent, to $20.85 on the Big Board. Over the past year, shares have traded between $15.60 and $45 per share. The Southfield, Mich.-based supplier, which makes products including electronics, seating and flooring, derives a large percentage of its business from General Motors Corp. The world's largest automaker has struggled recently as it attempts to cut costs and avoid a strike at Delphi Corp., its spun-off parts division, which is operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Shares of Detroit-based GM, which reports its earnings on Thursday, were up 33 cents to $20.91 on the Big Board. Elsewhere in the sector, shares of American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc., a Detroit-based maker of axles and other parts for light trucks and sport utility vehicles, were up 55 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $16.99 on the NYSE.
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