Owens Corning Beats: Housing Downturn Won't Destroy Earnings

One things says it all, "sales growth in our global composites business continued to be solid." Back in February I said that one ought to expect a storm or two this year and that the $240 million EBIT the company predicted at the time was too conservative. (Call Transcript)

Owens Corning (OC) said it now estimates that 2008 adjusted EBIT will be at least $265 million, a 10-percent increase from its prior estimate of at least $240 million.

More good news was that Owens Corning repurchased approximately 1 million shares at an average price of $23.55 during the second quarter of 2008. This represents 16 percent of the company's repurchase authorization. As of June 30, 2008, the company had 130.7 million shares outstanding. This was the first purchases under the plan, announced in Q1 2007.