Lennar Backlog Jumps; Spotify Valuation May Top $25 B

Mukesh Buch
04 Apr, 2018
New York City

Acuity Brands profit surged on strong sales volumes. CarMax missed earnings estimates. Cloudera tumbled despite revenue surged and net loss narrowed. Dave & Buster''s profit and revenues soared. Lennar jumped on record new orders and backlog.

[R]12:35 PM New York City, New York – Acuity Brands profit surged on strong sales volumes. CarMax missed earnings estimates. Cloudera tumbled despite revenue surged and net loss narrowed. Dave & Buster''s profit and revenues soared. Lennar jumped on record new orders and backlog.[/R]

Tollbooth Index edged up 5.15 to 14,375.08 and for the year jumped 4.4%.

Earnings Review

Acuity Brands Inc ((AYI)) plunged 10.3% or $13.94 to $120.84 after the lighting systems provider reported net sales in the second-quarter ending in February jumped 3.4% from a year ago to $832.1 million.

Net income in the quarter surged 44% to $96.9 million or $2.33 per diluted share from $67.3 million or $1.53 in the same quarter last year.

Acuity Brands said higher net sales was driven by increase in sales volume of over 6% and sales in LED-based products represented over two-thirds of fiscal 2018 second quarter total net sales.

However, operating profit in the quarter declined 16% to $103.8 million compared to the $123.9 million in the same period a year ago.

CarMax Inc ((KMX)) gained 40 cents to $60.36 after the used and new cars retailer said total net sales in the fourth-quarter ending in February rose 0.8% from a year ago to $4.1 billion.

Net income in the quarter declined 20% to $122.1 million or 67 cents per diluted share from $152.6 million or 81 cents in the same quarter last year.

CarMax said used unit sales in comparable stores declined 8% and total used unit sales dropped 3.1% and total wholesale unit sales jumped 8.9%.

Cloudera Inc ((CLDR)) tumbled 38.7% or $8.60 to $13.64 after the data management services provider said total revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in January soared 42% from a year ago to $103.5 million.

Net loss in the quarter narrowed to $43.9 million or 31 cents per diluted share from $61.4 million or $1.67 in the same quarter last year.

Dave & Buster''s Entertainment Inc ((Play)) slumped 3.7% or $1.52 to $39.17 after the dining and entertainment services provider stated total revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in January surged 12.9% from a year ago to $304.9 million.

Comparable store sales in the quarter dropped 5.9%.

Net income in the quarter jumped 29.9% to $35.6 million or 85 cents per diluted share from $27.4 million or 63 cents in the same quarter last year.

The dining services provider forecasted fiscal 2018 total revenues in the range of $1.20 billion to $1.24 billion and comparable store sales decrease in the low-to-mid single digits and net income between $95 million and $110 million and plans to open 14 to 15 new stores.

Lennar Corporation ((LEN)) soared 6.4% or $3.63 to $60.72 after the homebuilder reported revenues in the first-quarter ending in February soared 34% from a year ago to $2.7 billion.

Net income in the quarter declined 20% to $136.2 million or 53 cents per diluted share from $38.1 million or 16 cents in the same quarter last year.

Lennar said that it had completed its strategic acquisition of CalAtlantic on February 12 and total home delivery in the quarter jumped 24% to 6,765 homes and new orders surged 30% to 8,456 homes and new orders dollar terms soared 38% to $3.4 billion from a year ago.

The homebuilder said backlog surged 95% to 17,566 homes and in dollar terms soared 118% to $7.7 billion from a year ago period.

Spotify, the Swden-based music-streaming provider today plans to launch initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange but the streamer plans a direct listing to raise approx $24 billion.

Spotify shares are expected to trade in the range of $160 to $165 per share, and value between $29.4 billion and $30.3 billion and the streaming service provider has a strategic partnership with China-based Tencent.

In January, Swedish media Dagens Industri estimated that value of Spotify likely to be $24.8 billion.

In the listing filings, Spotify disclosed fiscal 2017 revenues jumped 39% from a year ago to €4.09 billion or $4.99 billion and net loss more than doubled to €1.24 billion from €539 million in the same period a year ago.