U.S. Movers: Accenture, ConAgra, Pier 1, Scholastic, Rite Aid

Mukesh Buch
19 Dec, 2013
New York City

Accenture net climbed 10%. ConAgra net jumped 18% and revenue soared 27%. Darden net plunged 41% but sales jumped 5%. Pier 1 Imports net rose 5%. Scholastic net dropped 6%. Rite Aid net surged 16% and extended agreement with GNC through 2019.

[R]11:45 AM New York – Accenture net climbed 10%. ConAgra net jumped 18% and revenue soared 27%. Darden net plunged 41% but sales jumped 5%. Pier 1 Imports net rose 5%. Scholastic net dropped 6%. Rite Aid net surged 16% and extended agreement with GNC through 2019.[/R]

Accenture Plc ((ACN)) climbed 3.9% or $3.12 to $78.74 after the outsourcing service provider reported revenue sales in the first-quarter ending in November rose 2% to $7.4 billion.

Net income in the quarter climbed 9.7% to $751.8 million or $1.15 a diluted share compared to $698.8 million or $1.06.

Accenture added new bookings in the quarter were $8.7 billion and consulting bookings of $4.3 billion and outsourcing bookings of $4.4 billion.

The company expects net revenues in the second quarter in the range of $6.95 billion to $7.25 billion.

ConAgra Foods, Inc. ((CAG)) soared 5.9% or $1.84 to $33.64 after the food processing company said total revenues in the second-quarter ending on November 24 soared 26.5% to $4.71 billion. Net income in the quarter jumped 17.5% to $248.7 million or 59 cents a diluted share compared to $211.6 million or 52 cents.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. ((DRI)) declined 6.2% or $3.28 to $49.63 after the restaurant company reported total sales in the fourth-quarter ending on November 24 advanced 5% to $2.05 billion. Same restaurant sales in the quarter increased 1.5%.

Net earnings in the quarter plunged 41% to $19.8 million or 15 cents a diluted share compared to $33.6 million or 26 cents.

Pier 1 Imports, Inc ((PIR)) surged 5.6% or $1.17 to $21.90 after the home furnishings retailer stated total sales in the first-quarter ending on November 24 jumped 9.7% to $465.5 million. Comparable store sales in the quarter advanced 6.9%.

Net income in the quarter jumped 4.8% to $23.7 million or 22 cents a diluted share compared to $67.7 million or 62 cents.

Scholastic Corp ((SCHL)) gained 1.5% or 68 cents to $29.19 after the book publishing company reported revenues in the second-quarter ending in November grew 1.6% to $623.2 million.

Net income in the quarter dropped 5.7% to $58.3 million or $1.80 a diluted share compared to $61.8 million or $1.89.

Rite Aid Corporation ((RAD)) plunged 10.2% or 59 cents to $5.27 after the drugstore retail chain said revenue in the third-quarter ending in November rose 1.9% to $6.36 billion. Same store sales in the quarter increased 2.3%.

Net income in the quarter surged 15.5% to $71.5 million or 4 cents a diluted share compared to $61.9 million or 7 cents.

Rite Aid expected its fiscal 2014 sales between $25.3 billion and $25.4 billion and same store sales increase in the range of 0.35% to 0.85% compared to fiscal 2013.

In a separate press release, the company said it extended and expanded existing partnership with GNC Holdings Inc, global specialty retailer of health and wellness products through 2019.