Kaydon 3rd-qtr Results Miss Wall St View; Shares Drop

Kaydon 3rd-qtr Results Miss Wall St View; Shares Drop Ball bearings maker Kaydon Corp reported a lower quarterly profit that missed Wall Street estimates, hurt mainly by an 11 percent fall in operating income from its key business, sending its shares down more than 10 percent. Kaydon posted a profit of $17.1 million, or 54 cents a share, for the latest third quarter, on net sales of $107.4 million. The company had earned $17.6 million, or 55 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Excluding special items, the company's earnings stood at 56 cents a share. Analysts on average were looking for a profit of 59 cents a share, excluding special items, and revenue of $111.06 million, according to Reuters Estimates. Operating income from its Kaydon's friction control products business fell to about $15.0 million from $16.9 million, hurt by changes in product mix including a growth in lower-margin products, it said. Kaydon shares recovered some early morning losses and were trading down $4.8 at $51.20 in afternoon trade on New York Stock Exchange.