First Quarter

The upsurge in business has put a rosy glow on first-quarter corporate earnings. This was plain last week as some early-bird companies reported. General Tire & Rubber Co. announced that in its first fiscal quarter (from Dec. 1, 1954 through Feb. 28) it made a profit of $2,236,310 on sales of $63,574,233 v. a profit of $1,851,515 on sales of $44,130,274 a year ago. Pittsburgh Coke & Chemical Co., operating at about 85% of capacity in the first quarter v. 50% a year ago, said that its earnings are "much better" than 1954. Parke, Davis announced that first-quarter sales in 1955 were 12% ahead of last year and net profit showed a "substantial increase." Raybestos-Manhattan said that its first-quarter earnings will be at least 10% ahead of last year.

Almost every place businessmen looked, there were signs that the boom was still rolling, and there was little doubt that 1955's first three months had smashed all records for first-quarter-activity. Some of the signs:

P: The steel industry was operating at 94.3% of capacity v. 68% a year ago, and April production was expected to be even higher. Some mills were still three or four weeks behind delivery schedules.

P: General Motors, Ford and Chrysler all reported record-smashing new-car sales. G.M.'s first-quarter sales of 893,978 cars (46.8% above the same period last year) were the best for any three-month period in its history. By selling 44,115 cars, Chrysler Corp.'s Chrysler Division cracked all previous first-quarter marks and was an amazing 70.1% ahead of a year ago. Ford announced that first-quarter sales of its dealers totaled 1,017,773 cars and trucks, both new and used, an alltime high and 21% above the same quarter last year. The previously hard-pressed independents joined in the first-quarter boom. Both Studebaker-Packard and Nash-Hudson turned out almost twice as many cars (70,000 and 55,000 respectively) as they did during the first three months of 1954.

P: Montgomery Ward reported that March sales were 13.3% above March 1954, while Sears, Roebuck announced that its volume, 15.3% ahead of a year ago, was the largest for any March on record.

P: In February, personal income broke all records as it reached an annual rate of $292,400,000,000 compared to the old peak of $286,800,000,000, set in the third quarter of 1953.

P: For the month ending March 15, the Commerce and Labor Departments reported that employment in the U.S. rose 539,000, to a total of 60,477,000 v. 60,100,000 in March 1954. Unemployment fell 207,000 to 3,176,000 v. 3,724,000 in March last year.

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