NEW YORK (CNNfn) - After the closing bell Tuesday, newspaper publisher Pulitzer Inc. and wireless frequency product maker Endwave Corp. both said their fourth-quarter earnings would not live up to expectations; and oil company Unocal Corp. said its board has appointed a new chief executive officer.
But those announcements were overshadowed by Apple Computer, which warned after the bell that its revenue would miss targets, making it the second major computer maker to warn holiday sales were slow.
Several key economic numbers are due out later in the week. The Labor Department is scheduled to report its employment numbers for the month of November on Friday. The report includes the unemployment rate, hourly earnings, non-farm payrolls and the average number of hours worked per week.
But first, the government agency is expected to release the weekly number of initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended Dec. 2 on Thursday.
Pulitzer Inc.
The newspaper publisher said it expects fourth-quarter diluted earnings per share to be "slightly below" the current Wall Street forecast of 47 cents, due to weaker advertising revenue and higher newsprint costs.
Pulitzer (PTZ: Research, Estimates) projected earnings for fiscal 2001 would be in the range of $1.67 to $1.77 a share, which is also below the consensus estimate of $1.90 per share.
In the fourth quarter, the St. Louis, Missouri-based company expects to take a charge of about 3 cents per share for an early retirement program
designed to reduce staff at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper. The lowered earnings expectations also take into account the general softness of retail advertising.
Endwave Corp.
The broadband wireless frequency product maker warned that it expects to report a steeper-than-forecast loss in the fourth quarter due to slower-than-expected customer demand.
Endwave (ENWV: Research, Estimates) said it expects to report a pro forma net loss of 28 cents a share, 3 cents wider than what Wall Street estimated.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of $13 million, and $65 million in 2001.
Endwave also said its fourth-quarter shipments have been constrained by delayed receipt of customer-furnished materials.
Unocal Corp.
The oil company has elected Charles Williamson as CEO and Timothy Ling as president and chief operating officer effective Jan. 1.
Williamson, now executive vice president of international operations, will succeed Roger Beach, who will retire as chairman and CEO at the end of December.
Beach has been the CEO of El Segundo, Calif.-based Unocal (UCL: Research, Estimates) since 1994 and chairman since 1995.
Advanced Fibre Communications Inc.
The Petaluma, Calif.-based company reiterated its revenue projections for the fourth quarter of $115 million to $118 million.
Advanced Fibre (AFCI: Research, Estimates) said it was likely it will meet or exceed its stated earnings-per-share projection of 16 cents per share.
Advanced Fibre designs and manufactures worldwide broadband access solutions.

- compiled by Staff Writer Joseph Lee
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