Profit updates optimistic

NEW YORK – What do DuPont Co., Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. and World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. have in common?

These disparate companies, along with many others, are looking forward to surprisingly good first-quarter profits. Across numerous sectors, the past few weeks have seen companies putting Wall Street on notice that earnings are going to be better, not worse, than expected.

“Right now, we’re looking at the 16th straight quarter of double-digit profits,” said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at Standard & Poor’s. “We’ve seen broad gains, not for the entire world, but it’s going to be a very decent quarter.”

Usually, the last few weeks of a quarter are the domain of companies warning investors that, due to anything from higher materials costs to fewer customers, profits aren’t going to be as high as Wall Street analysts had forecast.

Certainly, a few companies have said that over the past month, most notably technology firms Research In Motion Ltd. and Adobe Systems Inc., as well as cruise ship operator Carnival Corp., which was particularly vulnerable to higher fuel prices in the quarter.

Retailers, coming off a warmer than expected winter, are also issuing more positive forecasts.