AES, Avago, Salesforce Climb; Salesforce and Sears Net Loss Narrow

Mukesh Buch
26 Feb, 2015
New York City

AES net swung to profit after revenues climbed 9%. Avago revenues and net surged and agreed to acquire Emulex for $609 million. Chico''s and Harsco net loss widened. HP is in talks to buy Aruba Networks. Kohl''s net soared 10%. Salesforce and Sears net loss narrowed.

[R]12:40 PM New York – AES net swung to profit after revenues climbed 9%. Avago revenues and net surged and agreed to acquire Emulex for $609 million. Chico''s and Harsco net loss widened. HP is in talks to buy Aruba Networks. Kohl''s net soared 10%. Salesforce and Sears net loss narrowed.[/R]

Tollbooth Index nearly rose 0.1% or 13.95 to 10,731.14.

Earnings Review

AES Corp ((AES)) climbed 5.8% or 70 cents to $12.70 after the diversified power producer said net sales in the fourth-quarter ending on December climbed 8.7% to $4.13 billion from a year ago period.

Net in the quarter swung to profit $206 million or 29 cents per diluted share compared to a loss of $206 million or 28 cents from the same quarter last year.

Avago Technologies Ltd ((AVGO)) surged 14% or $15.79 to $128.47 after the Singapore-based analog semiconductor device supplier stated net revenues in the first-quarter ending on February 1 soared 130% to $1.63 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter surged 162% to $351 million or $1.26 per diluted share compared to $134 million or 53 cents from the same quarter last year.

Separately, the chipmaker agreed to acquire networking company Emulex Corp for $8 a share in a cash deal valued at about $609 million.

The deal is expected to close in November.

Chico''s FAS, Inc ((CHS)) jumped 2% or 35 cents to $17.71 after the apparel retailer said net sales in the second-quarter ending in January climbed 7% to $656.9 million from a year ago period. Comparable store sales in the quarter jumped 4.3%.

Net loss in the quarter widened to $31.8 million or 21 cents per diluted share compared to $0.35 million or break even from the same quarter last year.

Harsco Corporation ((HSC)) declined 6.1% or $1.06 to $16.41 after the industrial and engineering service provider stated total revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in December plunged 27.8% to $492.1 million from a year ago period.

Net loss in the quarter widened to $45.6 million or 56 cents per diluted share compared to $25.3 million or 31 cents from the same quarter last year.

Hewlett-Packard Co ((HPQ)) slipped 1.2% or 42 cents to $34.25 on media reports that the computer and printer maker is in talks to buy Wi-Fi gear maker Aruba Networks Inc.

Shares of Aruba closed at 21% to $22.24 and shares of HP declined 9.8% to $34.70.

Kohl''s Corporation ((KSS)) gained 1.6% or $1.16 to $72.06 after the department store operator reported total sales in the fourth-quarter ending in January increased 3.9% to $6.34 billion from a year ago period. Comparable store sales in the quarter jumped 3.7%.

Net income in the quarter soared 10% to $369 million or $1.83 per diluted share compared to $334 million or $1.56 from the same quarter last year.

The retailer forecasted earnings per diluted share for the fiscal 2015 of between $4.40 and $4.60.

Salesforce.com, Inc ((CRM)) surged 10.8% or $6.77 to $69.65 after the cloud computing service provider said total revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in January soared 26.3% to $1.44 billion from a year ago period.

Net loss in the quarter narrowed to $65.8 million or 10 cents per diluted share compared to $116.6 million or 19 cents from the same quarter last year.

The company forecasted revenues for the first-quarter between $1.49 billion and $1.51 billion and adjusted earnings per share in the range of 13 cents to 14 cents.

For the fiscal 2016, the company estimated revenues in the range of $6.45 billion to $6.5 billion and adjusted earnings per share between 67 cents to 69 cents.

Sears Holdings Corp ((SHLD)) tumbled 7.2% or $2.72 to $35.18 after the department store chain reported revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in January declined 23.5% to $8.10 billion from a year ago period.

Comparable store sales in the quarter dropped 4.4% comprised of 2% at Kmart and a fall of 7% at domestic stores at Sears.

Net loss in the quarter narrowed to $159 million or $1.50 per diluted share compared to $358 million or $3.37 from the same quarter last year.