Shares of Bankers Trust New York Corp. have run hot and cold during the last two trading sessions, thanks to earnings season volatility.
The stock, having topped the list of big bank gainers in trading Friday, abruptly reversed course Monday. Bankers Trust fell $1.625 to $83.875, after finishing last week with a new 52-week high.
Analysts attributed Friday's 2.7% jump in shares to a high level of overall market activity with expiration of futures contracts and anticipation of corporate earnings, highlighted by a rush into International Business Machines Corp. shares before the computer maker released results Monday.
"Monday turned out to be the flip side of Friday, but neither move in Bankers' stock was fundamentally driven," said Lawrence W. Cohn, the banking industry analyst at PaineWebber Inc.
"There are no special reasons involved," said analyst Diane B. Glossman of Salomon Brothers. "The company was one of the last banks to report earnings, and the dust had already settled around the other bank stocks."
Another analyst, Raphael Soifer of Brown Brothers, Harriman & Co., suggested the market had initially overreacted to the "headline number" in Bankers Trust's earnings announcement last week, which was bolstered by several nonrecurring items.
Bankers Trust said it earned $176 million, or $1.99 per share, in the third quarter, up 14% from a year earlier. That included a gain of $18 million, or 21 cents per share, from the sale of some insurance activities.
"After due consideration, the stock has settled back," Mr. Soifer noted.
Bolstered by a combination of good results and favorable economic news, banks so far appear to have headed off a major post-earnings selloff. Downdrafts have hit the stocks at this point in numerous prior quarters.
On Monday, most bank's issues moved ahead in a generally favorable investment climate - even after profit taking hit the blue chip stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average. Citicorp was up 50 cents to $96.625, while Chase Manhattan Corp. advanced 62.5 cents to $83.
Summit Bancorp stock continued to post gains in the wake of its third- quarter results, gaining 25 cents to $40.50. Last week, Salomon Brothers upgraded the stock to "buy" from "hold."
Salomon analyst Michael A. Plodwick said profitability at the Princeton, N.J., company is improving, with earnings growth driven by savings from the merger last year between Summit and UJB Financial Corp.
