AirTouch Sees Rapid Growth

AirTouch Communications Inc. on Thursday said third-quarter earnings more than doubled, paced by a record number of new wireless phone customers in its international operations.

San Francisco-based AirTouch said net income rose to $141 million, or 25 cents a share, from $59 million, or 10 cents, a year earlier. The company was expected to earn 19 cents a share.

The company is seeing rapid growth in its international operations and is profiting from strong demand for its analog cellular services in the U.S. as it begins to face greater competition from digital operators.

“Once again, AirTouch has demonstrated it’s a solid operator, despite new competition. It’s encouraging to see it beat expectations for subscriber growth in nearly every market,” said Walter Piecyk, an analyst at PaineWebber Inc., who rates AirTouch shares “attractive.”

AirTouch shares rose $2.69 to close at $40.69, after touching a record of $40.94 in New York Stock Exchange trading. It was one of the few stocks that gained on a volatile trading day on Wall Street and around the world.

During the quarter, AirTouch added 600,000 wireless customers, bringing its total to 9.7 million worldwide. About 70% of its new cellular customers came from AirTouch’s international operations.

At a Glance:

McKesson Corp.’s fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 54%, fueled by acquisitions and new drug distribution contracts. The world’s largest drug distributor said profit from continuing operations rose to $39.6 million, or 82 cents a share, from $25.8 million, or 59 cents, in the year-earlier period. In the year-ago quarter, a gain from discontinued operations of $2.3 million, or 5 cents a share, resulted in net income of $28.1 million, or 64 cents.

Cheesecake Factory of Calabasas Hills reported third-quarter net income of $2.9 million, or 26 cents, compared with $1.7 million, or 16 cents a year ago. The company also said it entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of Walt Disney Co. to be the exclusive food-service operator for Disney’s new DisneyQuest concept.

Electronic Arts Inc. of San Mateo said its fiscal second-quarter profit from operations more than doubled, rising to $7.1 million, or 12 cents a share, from $3.4 million, or 6 cents, a year ago.

San Jose-based Komag Inc. reported a third-quarter loss of $17.7 million, or 35 cents a share, contrasted with net income of $16.5 million, or 31 cents, a year earlier.

Applied Magnetics Corp. of Goleta reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $16.3 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with net income of $12.1 million, or 47 cents, in the year-earlier period.

Infoseek Corp., based in Sunnyvale, reported third-quarter net loss of $4.5 million, or 17 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $3.7 million, or 14 cents, a year ago.

Carpinteria-based MetaCreations Corp. reported third-quarter net income of $3.6 million, or 15 cents, compared with $2.8 million, or 12 cents, a year ago. The results are the first consolidated results of MetaCreations, which was formed in May from the merger of MetaTools and Fractal Design Center.

California Micro Devices Corp. reported a second-quarter net loss of $615,000, or 6 cents per share, contrasted with net income of $140,000, or 1 cent, a year ago.

K-Swiss Inc. of Los Angeles reported third-quarter net income of $1.7 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with $281,000, or 4 cents, a year ago.

San Leandro-based North Face Inc. reported third-quarter net income of $10.8 million, or 92 cents per share, compared with $6.5 million, or 62 cents, a year ago.

*

MORE EARNINGS: D4