Red Hat Net Surges; Bed Bath & Beyond, Conagra Brands Net Plunge

Mukesh Buch
22 Dec, 2016
New York City

Anadarko agreed to sell certain gas assets to Alta Marcellus. Berkshire Partners plan to acquire stake in Kendra Scott Design. Bed Bath & Beyond net tumbled 29%. Conagra Brands net plunged 21%. Micron Technology net plummeted 13%. Rite Aid net tumbled 29%. Red Hat net surged 45%.

[R]12:00 PM New York – Anadarko agreed to sell certain gas assets to Alta Marcellus. Berkshire Partners plan to acquire stake in Kendra Scott Design. Bed Bath & Beyond net tumbled 29%. Conagra Brands net plunged 21%. Micron Technology net plummeted 13%. Rite Aid net tumbled 29%. Red Hat net surged 45%.[/R]

Tollbooth Index dropped 106.67 or 0.9% to 11,173.56.

Earnings Review

Anadarko Petroleum Corp ((APC)) gained 60 cents to $71.35 after the oil and gas explorer agreed to sell certain natural gas assets in the Marcellus Shale to Alta Marcellus Development, LLC owned by Alta Resources Development LLC for about $1.24 billion.

The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2017.

Berkshire Partners LLC, the private equity group said its plan to acquire a minority stake in Kendra Scott Design Inc that valued the fashion accessories brand worth about more than $1 billion.

“We are delighted to have Berkshire invest with us at a very exciting time for our company,” designer and chief executive officer Kendra Scott said who founded with $500 from a spare bedroom in her home in 2002.

“Kendra and her team have built an authentic brand that is widely loved,” managing director at Berkshire Partners Marni Payne said.

The transaction is expected to close during the first-quarter of 2017.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc ((BBBY)) plunged 6.3% or $2.88 to $42.68 after the home furnishings retailer reported revenues in the third-quarter ending on November 26 edged up 0.1% from a year ago to $3 billion.

Comparable store sales in the quarter decreased 1.4%.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 28.9% to $126.4 million or 85 cents per diluted share compared to the $177.8 million or $1.09 per share from the same quarter last year.

The retailer forecasted diluted earnings per share in fiscal 2016 at the low end of the $4.50 to just above $5 that it has earned over the past several years

Conagra Brands Inc, formerly ConAgra Foods, Inc. ((CAG)) jumped 2.9% or $1.11 to $39.11 after the packaged food producer reported net sales in the second-quarter ending on November 27 declined 11.5% from a year ago to $2.1 billion.

Comparable store sales in the quarter decreased 1.4%.

Net income in the quarter plunged 21.2% to $122.1 million or 28 cents per diluted share compared to the $154.9 million or 35 cents per share from the same quarter last year.

The packaged food producer reaffirmed net sales estimate in the year to drop between 4% and 5% and diluted earnings per share between $1.65 and $1.70.

Micron Technology, Inc ((MU)) surged 12.5% or $2.57 to $23.15 after the memory chip maker reported revenues in the third-quarter ending on December 1 soared 18.5% from a year ago to $4 billion.

Net income in the quarter plummeted 12.6% to profit $180 million or 16 cents per diluted share compared to the $206 million or 19 cents per share from the same quarter last year.

Rite Aid Corporation ((RAD)) slid 2 cents to $8.45 after the drugs retailer said revenues in the third-quarter ending on November 26 fell 0.8% from a year ago to $8.1 billion.

Same store sales in the quarter declined 3.4% and the number of prescriptions filled in same stores decreased 2.4%.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 28.9% to $15 million or 1 cent per diluted share compared to the $59.5 million or 6 cents per share from the same quarter last year.

Red Hat Inc ((RHT)) tumbled 12.2% or $9.76 to $69.98 after the open source software developer said revenues in the third-quarter ending in November soared 17.5% from a year ago to $615.3 million.

Net income in the quarter surged 45.1% to $67.9 million or 37 cents per diluted share compared to the $46.8 million or 25 cents per share from the same quarter last year.

Red Hat forecasted revenue the fiscal fourth-quarter in the range of $614 million to $622 million.

In the year, the software developer estimated revenue in a range of $2.4 billion to $2.41 billion and earnings per share of about $2.27.

TriNet Group Inc jumped 3.7% or 94 cents to $26.39 after the privately owned outsourcing and staffing services provider Atairos Group Inc said today that it would buy a stake of about 26% in rival from investment firm General Atlantic LLC.

Atairos agreed to acquire 17.7 million shares at $25 each for $440 million.

However, Trinet will not issue new shares and also will not receive any proceeds from the deal.