Owens Corning shares rise on 2Q earnings growth

Shares of Owens Corning rose Wednesday after the building materials maker reported a 7 percent gain in second-quarter earnings and raised its profit estimate for 2008.

Shares jumped $2.14, or 8.7 percent, to finish at $26.64. Owens Corning stock has traded between $16.20 and $31.29 in the past year.

Longbow Research analyst Garik Shmois, who has a "Neutral" rating on the stock, noted the company's second-quarter profit exceeded Wall Street estimates.

"It was a better-than-expected quarter due to outperformance in composites and roofing and asphalt," he said in an interview.

Jack Kasprzak, an analyst with BB&T Capital Markets, said seeing such results for "a company that's got any exposure to the housing market, you've got to be pretty impressed."

"You've got to give the company credit for delivering and maintaining a pretty reasonable earnings profile," he added.

Owens Corning's earnings were helped by stronger global sales, due to the company's 2007 acquisition of Saint-Gobain's reinforcements and composite fabrics business and other factors.

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Net income grew to $31 million, or 24 cents per share, for the three months ended June 30, compared with $29 million, or 22 cents per share, during the same period last year.

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Quarterly sales jumped 23 percent to $1.57 billion from $1.28 billion last year.

On average, analysts predicted earnings of 21 cents per share on revenue of $1.41 billion, according to Thomson Financial. Those estimates generally exclude one-time items.

The company also forecast 2008 earnings of at least $265 million, a 10 percent increase from its earlier estimate of $240 million. Analysts predict $249.7 million in profit.