P.M. BRIEFING : Wall St. Doesn’t Hear Avon Calling

Wall Street throttled Avon Products Inc.’s stock this morning, hours after Amway Corp. withdrew its $2.1-billion offer for the giant cosmetics company.

Apparently in an attempt to moderate Wall Street’s reaction to Amway’s withdrawal, Avon said in a letter to shareholders that it expects per-share earnings to rise 35% to 41% this year.

But Wall Street was unimpressed by Avon’s projections, and the stock fell $6.875, or 16.5%, to $33.50 in hectic morning trading. More than 2 million shares of the New York-based company traded hands, making it the most actively traded stock on the New York Stock Exchange.

Late Wednesday night, Amway withdrew its $2.1-billion offer, only hours after Avon’s board unanimously rejected it in unusually strong language. (Story in Part IV, Page 1.)