U.S. Stock Movers: Accenture, Carnival, FactSet, FedEx, Lennar, Micron Technology, Nike

Scott Peters
24 Mar, 2025
New York City

Carnival Corp. gained 0.05% to $20.95 after the cruise lines operator reported higher revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 ending in February.

Revenue surged to $5.81 billion from $5.41 billion, net loss shrank to $78 million from a loss of $214 million, and diluted loss per share narrowed to 6 cents from a loss of 17 cents a year ago.

The company expects “to achieve both 2026 sea change financial targets one year in advance, with adjusted return on invested capital and adjusted EBITDA per available lower berth for 2025 reaching the highest levels in nearly two decades,” Carnival said in a release to investors.

“While we are not completely immune from the heightened macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility since providing our December guidance, we are still taking up our earnings expectations for the year.”

The company guided for the second quarter of 2025 adjusted EBITDA of approximately $1.3 billion, up 10% compared to the same quarter of 2024.

For the full year, Carnival estimated adjusted net income to be up over 30% compared to 2024 and better than December guidance by $185 million.

Adjusted EBITDA for the full year is expected at approximately $6.7 billion, up nearly 10% compared to 2024 and better than the December guidance.

Diluted earnings per share are estimated at 22 cents in the second quarter and $1.83 for the full year, compared to 7 cents and $1.44 a year ago, respectively.

Adjusted net income is seen at $285 million in the second quarter and $2.49 billion for the full year, compared to $92 million and $1.92 billion a year ago, respectively.

FactSet Research Systems Inc. eased 0.4% to $431.12 after the enterprise solutions provider to investment managers reported results for fiscal second quarter 2025 ending in February.

Revenue increased 4.5% to $570.66 million from $545.94 million, net income jumped 2.8% to $144.86 million from $140.94 million, and diluted earnings per share rose 1.4% to $4.28 from $4.22 a year ago.

“Client count as of February 28 was 8,645, a net increase of 396 clients in the past three months, mainly due to corporates, which now includes clients from the Irwin acquisition,” the company said in a release to investors.

The count includes clients with annual subscription value of $10,000 and more and does not reflect the LiquidityBook acquisition.

User count was 219,141 as of February 28, a net increase of 874 users in the past three months, mainly driven by an increase in wealth management users, and not reflecting the Irwin and LiquidityBook acquisitions.

FactSet had proposed a dividend of $39.5 million, or $1.04 per share, paid on March 20 to shareholders on record as of February 28.

In addition, the workflow solutions company repurchased 136,714 shares for $64.4 million at an average price of $470.70 during the second quarter, and $186.9 million remained available as of February 28.

The company guided for fiscal 2025 GAAP revenue to be between $2.30 billion to $2.32 billion, up from its previous forecast between $2.28 billion and $2.30 billion.

GAAP diluted earnings per share are estimated to be between $14.80 and $15.40, compared to the previous guidance between $15.10 and $15.70.

Adjusted diluted earnings per share are seen unchanged between $16.80 and $17.40.

GAAP operating margin is expected to be in the range of 32% and 33%, down from 32.5% and 33.5% previously announced.

Organic annual subscription value is expected to grow in the range of $100 million to $130 million, narrowing from $90 million to $140 million previously estimated.

Annual subscription value (ASV) was $2.31 billion as of February 28, compared to $2.18 billion a year ago.

Organic ASV was $2.28 billion as of February 28, up 4.1% or $90.7 million, year-over-year, and it increased $19.6 million over the last three months.

Lennar Corp. traded flat at $115.22 after the home builder reported results for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 ending in February.

Revenue increased to $7.63 billion from $7.31 billion, net income dropped to $519.5 million from $719.3 million, and diluted earnings per share fell to $1.96 from $2.57 a year ago.

The company completed the quarter with a backlog of 13,145 homes with a dollar value of $5.8 billion, and home deliveries increased 6% to 17,834 homes.

New orders increased 1% to 18,355 homes, as new orders dollar value decreased 4% to $7.4 billion.

During the quarter, the company repurchased 5.2 million shares for $703 million at an average share price of $134.40.

In February, Lennar completed the taxable spin-off of Millrose Properties Inc. from Lennar through a distribution of approximately 80% of Millrose's stock to Lennar's stockholders.

The company guided for the second quarter of 2025 new orders to be between 22,500 and 23,500 homes, deliveries between 19,500 and 20,500 homes, and the average sales price between $390,000 and $400,000.

The gross margin on home sales is estimated at approximately 18%.

The company expects operating earnings in the financial services segment to be between $135 million and $145 million in the second quarter of 2025, compared to $146 million a year ago.

During the first quarter, operating earnings for the financial services segment were $143 million, compared to $131 million a year ago, helped by increased deliveries.

Micron Technology Inc. eased 0.2% to $94.56 after the memory and storage solutions provider reported sharply higher sales and earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 ending in February.

Revenue jumped to $8.05 billion from $5.82 billion, net income surged to $1.58 billion from $793 million, and diluted earnings per share edged up to $1.41 from 71 cents a year ago.

“We expect record quarterly revenue in fiscal third quarter, with DRAM and NAND demand growth in both data center and consumer-oriented markets, and we are on track for record revenue and significantly improved profitability in fiscal 2025,” the company said in a release to investors.

GAAP revenue in the third quarter is estimated to be $8.80 billion, plus or minus $200 million, compared to $6.81 billion a year ago, and GAAP diluted earnings per share is expected at $1.37, plus or minus 10 cents, compared to 30 cents in the same quarter in 2024.

Gross margin in the third quarter is expected to be 35.5%, plus or minus 1%, compared to 26.9% a year ago, and operating expenses at $1.27 billion, plus or minus $15 million, compared to $1.11 billion in the same quarter last year.

FedEx Corp. dropped 0.1% to $230.00 after the parcel delivery company reported increased revenue in the fiscal third quarter of 2025 ending in February.

Revenue increased to $22.16 billion from $21.74 billion, net income jumped to $909 million from $879 million, and diluted earnings per share rose to $3.76 from $3.51 a year ago.

The company guided for 2025 revenue to be slightly down from a year earlier and diluted earnings per share between $15.15 and $15.75, compared to $17.21 in 2024.

Capital spending is expected at $4.9 billion, compared to the prior forecast of $5.2 billion, with a priority on “investments in network optimization and efficiency improvement, including fleet and facility modernization and automation,” the company said in a release to investors.

FedEx is reaffirming its forecast of permanent cost reductions from the DRIVE transformation program of $2.2 billion; and effective tax rate of approximately 24.0% prior to the mark-to-market retirement plans accounting adjustments.

The company completed its $2.5 billion fiscal 2025 share repurchase plan with $0.5 billion in share repurchases via open market transactions during the quarter.

Approximately 1.8 million shares were repurchased, with the decrease in outstanding shares benefiting third quarter results by 12 cents per diluted share.

As of February 28, $2.6 billion remained available for repurchases under the company's 2024 stock repurchase authorization.

Cash on-hand as of February 28 was $5.1 billion.

The company is planning to spin off its freight segment, as its operating results decreased during the quarter due to lower fuel surcharges, reduced weight per shipment, and fewer shipments, partially offset by higher base yield.

Accenture Plc. gained 1.5% to $305.32 after the consulting services company reported results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 ending in February.

Revenue increased to $16.66 billion from $15.80 billion, net income jumped to $1.79 billion from $1.67 billion, and diluted earnings per share rose to $2.82 from $2.63 a year ago.

The company narrowed its full-year revenue growth forecast to 5% to 7%, and expects foreign exchange impact of approximately negative 0.5%.

The operating margin is seen between 15.6% and 15.7%, an expansion of 10 to 20 basis points over the adjusted operating margin.

Accenture estimated diluted earnings per share in 2025 to be between $12.55 and $12.79, compared to $11.57 a year ago.

During the second quarter, new bookings were $20.91 billion, down 3% in U.S. dollars and flat in local currency compared to the same quarter in 2024.

Consulting new bookings in the quarter were $10.47 billion and managed services new bookings were $10.44 billion.

Nike Inc. gained 0.1% to $68.00 after the sporting goods company reported results for the third quarter of fiscal 2025 ending in February.

Revenue declined to $11.27 billion from $12.43 billion, net income edged down to $794 million from $1.17 billion, and diluted earnings per share dropped to 54 cents from 77 cents a year ago.

Selling and administrative expense decreased 8% to $3.9 billion in the quarter.

The company proposed a dividend of 40 cents per share, compared to 37 cents a year earlier.

“Nike is consistently increasing returns to shareholders, including 23 consecutive years of increasing dividend payouts,” the company said in a release to investors.

In the third quarter, Nike returned approximately $1.1 billion to shareholders, including dividends of $594 million, up 6% from the prior year.

In addition, the company completed share repurchases of $499 million, reflecting 6.5 million shares retired as part of the company’s four-year, $18 billion program approved in June 2022.

As of February 28, a total of 119.3 million shares have been repurchased under the program for a total of approximately $11.8 billion.