Applied Materials Jumps; Arista, Dillard's, Eagle Materials Decline

Mukesh Buch
15 May, 2015
New York City

Arista Networks net soared 99% on 53% jump in revenues. Applied Materials net climbed 39%. Dillard''s net dropped 2%. Eagle Materials net more than doubled. Nordstrom profit plunged 9%. Symantec net tumbled 19%.

[R]12:20 PM New York – Arista Networks net soared 99% on 53% jump in revenues. Applied Materials net climbed 39%. Dillard''s net dropped 2%. Eagle Materials net more thandoubled. Nordstrom profit plunged 9%. Symantec net tumbled 19%.[/R]

Tollbooth Index edged down 1.06 to 10,766.98.

Earnings Review

Arista Networks Inc ((ANET)) declined 6.6% or $4.57 to $64.34 after the cloud networking solutions provider said revenues in the first-quarter ending in March surged 52.8% to $179.05 million from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter soared 98.6% to $24.49 million or 34 cents per diluted share compared to $12.33 million or 20 cents from the same quarter last year.

Arista forecasted revenues for the second-quarter between $183 million and $191 million.

Applied Materials, Inc ((AMAT)) jumped 2.2% or 52 cents to $20.38 after the electronic circuit wafers and chips maker reported revenues in the second-quarter ending on April 26 jumped 3.8% to $2.44 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter climbed 38.9% to $364 million or 29 cents per diluted share compared to $262 million or 21 cents from the same quarter last year.

The company said revenues from Silicon Systems Group jumped 8% to $1.56 billion and revenues form Applied Global Services business soared 11% to $646 million while revenues from Display segment tumbled 41% to $163 million.

The company forecasted revenues in the third-quarter to increase in the range of $2.49 billion to $2.59 billion and adjusted earnings per share to grow between 2% and 6% sequentially.

Avon Products Inc ((AVP)) slipped 1.3% or 9 cents to $6.98 after the private equity firm PTG Capital Partners offered to acquire beauty and skincare products maker for $18.75 per share or worth about $8.2 billion, three times more than the current market price.

Yesterday, in late afternoon trading Avon share surged to nearly 19%.

Dillard''s, Inc ((DDS)) plunged 7.5% or $9.34 to $114.86 after the apparel, cosmetics and home furnishing retailer reported total revenues in the first-quarter ending on May 2 rose 1.3% to $1.61 billion from a year ago period.

Comparable stores sales in the quarter decreased 1%.

Net income in the quarter dropped 1.9% to $109.6 million or $2.66 per diluted share compared to $111.7 million or $2.56 from the same quarter last year.

Eagle Materials, Inc ((EXP)) declined 4.1% or $3.56 to $84.12 after the gypsum wallboard and cement producer stated revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in March soared 17.8% to $223.8 million from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter surged 107.1% to $46.8 million or 93 cents a diluted share compared to $22.6 million or 45 cents from the same quarter last year.

Nordstrom, Inc ((JWN)) fell 26 cents to $73.89 after the specialty retailer said net sales in the first-quarter ending on May 2 climbed 9.8% to $3.1 billion from a year ago period.

Comparable stores sales in the quarter jumped 4.4%.

Net income in the quarter plunged 8.6% to $128 million or 66 cents per diluted share compared to $140 million or 72 cents from the same quarter last year.

The retailer forecasted net sales for the year to increase between 7% and 9% and comparable store sales to jump in the range of 2% to 4% while diluted earnings per share in the range of $3.65 to $3.80.

Symantec Corporation ((SYMC)) dropped 2.9% or 75 cents to $25.15 after the cloud-based security solution provider said total revenues in the fourth-quarter ending on April 3declined 6.7% to $1.52 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 18.9% to $176 million or 25 cents per diluted share compared to $217 million or 31 cents from the same quarter last year.

For the first quarter Symantec forecasted revenues in the range of $1.50 billion to $1.54 billion and diluted earnings per share between 20 cents to 23 cents.

For the year, the company estimated revenues to grow between $6.21 billion and $6.35 billion and diluted earnings per share in the range of 86 cents to 96 cents.