Overseas sales boost Nissan

Article Excerpt

NISSAN MOTOR (ADR) $19.56 (Nasdaq symbol NSANY; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (310-771-3111; www.nissan-global.com; Shares outstanding: 2.3 billion; Market cap: $44.2 billion; No dividends paid) is Japan’s second-largest automaker, after Toyota. In its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended June 30, 2014, the company earned 112.1 billion yen ($1.1 billion U.S., or $0.49 per ADR), up 36.7% from 82.0 billion yen ($804.4 million U.S., or $0.36) a year earlier. Revenue rose 10.8%, to 2.47 trillion yen ($24.1 billion U.S.) from 2.23 trillion yen ($21.8 billion). That’s because Nissan sold 1.24 million vehicles in the latest quarter, up 6.0% from a year earlier. Sales fell 2.7% in Japan, mainly because buyers bought vehicles before a big sales tax increase in April. That drop was offset by a 19.1% jump in Asian sales, including a 21.1% gain in China. North American sales rose 10.4%, with U.S. sales up 14.1%. European sales gained 13%. Nissan is still a buy. buy…