NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) – Economic reports in the past 36 hours provided a mixed picture of the U.S. economy’s chances of recovering any time soon. But what did top companies and their executives say about the outlook as they reported earnings and made other statements? Here is a compilation of comments made on Tuesday and Wednesday:
“We’re now seeing for the first time the real impact of the economic downturn (on) healthcare.” — Abbott Laboratories Inc (ABT.N) CEO Miles White.
“There’s still a lot of stress.” — Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) CEO Mike Duke told NBC. “It’s not a ‘V’ recession, where we’re just going to bounce out and come back.”
“Worldwide company restaurant margins were lower than expected primarily due to an unanticipated traffic slowdown in the month of March across most company-owned restaurant markets. Germany, the company’s second largest company-owned restaurant market, and Mexico, the only company market in Latin America, experienced the largest declines.” — Burger King Holdings Inc in a statement.
“While lower fuel prices have provided a significant buffer against falling demand in 2009, the struggling economy and capital markets remain significant challenges for American and the rest of the industry.” — AMR Corp (AMR.N) CEO Gerard Arpey in reference to its American Airlines business.
“We did see signs that the PC market bottomed out in the first quarter.” — Intel Corp (INTC.O) CFO Stacy Smith. “But there still is a lot of economic uncertainty out there that creates a wider range of potential outcomes than normal.”
“We are facing a very tough economic environment … but we are very well positioned.” — Wal-Mart de Mexico (WALMEXV.MX) CEO Eduardo Solorzano. (Reporting by Martin Howell; Editing by Toni Reinhold)
