Discover Financial Services Beats Estimates With $346.5 Million Profit (DFS)

Riverwoods, Illinois-based Discover Financial Services DFS on Thursday morning released financial results that easily beat Wall Street earnings expectations. Discover Financial Services reported 4th quarter net income of $346.5 million, or 64 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $59.2 million, or 14 cents per share, a year earlier. A poll of analysts conducted by Thomson Reuters showed an average Wall Street estimate of expected earnings of 43 cents per share. Chairman and chief executive officer David Nelms said, "The sustained and significant improvement in the credit performance of the Discover card portfolio led to another very strong earnings performance this quarter. We continue to invest in marketing and business development in all of our businesses, which contributed to another quarter of growth in Discover Card spending, as well as record transaction volumes in our third-party credit and debit network businesses. We look forward to capitalizing on the opportunities ahead of us in 2011, including our acquisition of The Student Loan Corporation as we strengthen our competitive position in private student loans." Discover Financial Services ended the previous trading session at $19.13 per share. Analysts covering the company's stock have a consensus price target of $19.71 per share. Discover Financial Services is a direct banking and payment services company that operates the Discover card and offers personal and student loans, online savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts through its Discover Bank subsidiary. Read more from Benzinga's Company news.