DuPont in asset-swap deal with FMC, BlackBerry Soars with Profit on Horizon

Mukesh Buch
31 Mar, 2017
New York City

BlackBerry soared after net loss narrowed and said the company is expected to be profitable on an adjusted GAAP basis. Du Pont is in asset-swap deal with FMC Corp. Eagle Bulk Shipping said net loss widened. Silver Lake Partners and Broadcom offered $18 billion for chip unit of Toshiba.

[R]1:10 PM New York – BlackBerry soared after net loss narrowed and said the company is expected to be profitable on an adjusted GAAP basis. Du Pont is in asset-swap deal with FMC Corp. Eagle Bulk Shipping said net loss widened. Silver Lake Partners and Broadcom offered $18 billion for chip unit of Toshiba.[/R]

Tollbooth Index rose 12.04 to 11,665.42.

Earnings Review

BlackBerry Ltd soared 12.6% or 88 cents to $7.82 after the Canada-based mobile communication services provider reported revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in February jumped 38.4% from a year ago to $286 million.

Net loss in the quarter narrowed to $47 million or 10 cents per diluted share from $238 million or 45 cents in the same quarter last year.

""""Looking ahead to fiscal 2018, we expect to grow at or above the overall market in our software business. We also expect to be profitable on a non-GAAP basis and to generate positive free cash flow for the full year,"""" executive chairman and chief executive officer John Chen said.

DXP Enterprises Inc ((DXPE)) surged 15.3% or $5.02 to $37.76 after the industrial equipment maintenance, repair services provider said revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in December dropped 3.4% from a year ago to $222.3 million.

Net in the quarter swung to profit $7.6 million or 49 cents per diluted share from a loss of $38.6 million or $2.68 in the same quarter last year.

E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co ((DD)) fell 81 cents to $80.83 after the industrial conglomerate today said that it is in asset-swap deal with FMC Corporation and it will divest its portion of crop protection business and will acquire substantially all of health and nutrition business of FMC.

The divestiture will satisfy DuPont''s commitments to the European Commission in connection with its conditional regulatory clearance of the merger with Dow.

""""This agreement with FMC is a win-win. It is pro-competitive; it advances the regulatory approval process; and it maintains the strategic logic and value creation potential of our merger with Dow and the three independent companies we intend to create,"""" chairman and chief executive officer Edward D. Breen said.

FMC Corporation stock surged 13.6% to $69.85.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc ((EGLE)) dropped 3.8% or 22 cents to $5.57 after the maritime services provider stated revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in December soared 62.6% from a year ago to $41.8 million.

Net loss in the quarter widened to $142.4 million or $2.96 per diluted share from $79.7 million or $42.37 in the same quarter last year.

Eagle Bulk said earnings per share in the fourth quarter of 2015 was retrospectively adjusted to give effect for the 1-for-20 reverse stock split that became effective as of the opening of trading on August 5, 2016.

The shipping company said as of December 31 the company had cash of $76.5 million and liquidity of about $101.5 million.

Franklin Covey Co ((FC)) soared 15.3% or $2.45 to $18.45 after the educational services provider stated revenues in the second-quarter ending on February 28 plummeted 6.8% from a year ago to $42.2 million.

Net loss in the quarter widened to $3.3 million or 24 cents per diluted share from $0.4 million or 3 cents in the same quarter last year.

NantHealth Inc ((NH)) plunged 8.3% or 42 cents to $4.67 after the cloud-based healthcare information technology provider said revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in December jumped 18.1% from a year ago to $24.1 million.

Net loss in the quarter widened to $60 million or 49 cents per diluted share from $17.9 million or 35 cents in the same quarter last year.

Silver Lake Partners, the Nikkei business daily reported the U.S.-based private equity partner and the chipmaker Broadcom Ltd offered $17.9 billion or 2 trillion yen for the chip unit of Toshiba Corporation.