Category Archives: oud

Qualys Q1 Tops, But Stock Falls Late On EPS Outlook; Appoints CFO

Qualys ( QLYS ) stock toppled late Monday after the cybersecurity firm beat Q1 expectations but missed current-quarter earnings views and announced the appointment of former Zynga exec Melissa Fisher as CFO. Fisher succeeds Don McCauley, who in January announced his resignation, effective March 1. Besides CFO, Fisher served as an executive in financial planning and analysis, investor relations and treasury roles at social-gaming firm Zynga ( ZNGA ). Qualys stock was down more than 3.5% in after-hours trading after the company released its earnings report. For Q1, Qualys reported a record $46.2 million in sales and 21 cents earnings per share minus items, both ahead of the consensus estimates of 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Sales and EPS were up a respective 23% and 40% vs. the year-earlier quarter, vs. the consensus for $45.1 million and 15 cents. Results crushed the firm’s earlier view for $44.7 million to $45.4 million in sales and EPS ex items of 14-16 cents. For the current quarter, Qualys guided to $47.6 million to $48.3 million in sales and 15-17 cents EPS ex items, up 20% and flat, respectively, from the year-ago quarter. Sales met at the midpoint, but EPS missed analysts’ model for 18 cents. Qualys stock is down 21.5% for the year.

Baidu Stock Tumbles As China Launches Probe Over Student’s Death

China’s Internet regulator said it will team up with the national health commission and another agency to probe Baidu ( BIDU ) over the death of a university student who had used the Chinese search engine to look for treatment for his cancer. The 21-year-old university student, Wei Zexi, died last month of a rare form of cancer, Reuters reported . Wei had posted criticism online accusing Baidu of promoting false medical information, as well as the hospital for misleading advertising in claiming a high success rate for the experimental treatment, state radio said. Baidu said it would fully cooperate. In 2010, China’s state-run television accused Baidu of promoting counterfeit drugs through its search engine. U.S. shares of Baidu fell 7.9% in the stock market today , to 178.91. Shares fell through their 50-day moving average, but found support just above the 200-day line. Baidu stock broke out of a cup-with-handle base with a 197.60 buy point on Friday, hitting a four-month intraday high of 201. But the stock has now undercut that entry area.

Sony PlayStation 4 Chipmaker Monolithic Power Systems Tops Q1 Views

Sony ( SNE ) PlayStation 4 chip supplier Monolithic Power Systems ( MPWR ) topped Wall Street’s Q1 expectations after the close Monday and issued current-quarter sales guidance that beat the consensus at the midpoint. Monolithic Power stock rose 1.75% in Monday’s regular session to 63.51, and was flat in after-hours trading. Shares are even for the year, but have recovered from an 8% dip through mid-February. Monolithic stock broke out of a cup-with-handle based last month at 65.36, so it’s down nearly 3% from the buy point. For Q1, Monolithic Power reported $84.5 million in sales and 45 cents earnings per share minus items, up 15% and 22%, respectively, vs. the year-earlier quarter. IBD Take: Monolithic Power gets great ratings of late, as you can see from IBD Stock Checkup. Both measures topped the consensus of eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for $83 million and 44 cents per share, and the midpoint of Monolithic Power’s earlier sales view for $81 million to $85 million. Current-quarter sales guidance for $91 million to $95 million would be up 12%-17% and beat analysts’ model for $91.5 million at the midpoint. Monolithic Power stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 97, out of a best-possible 99, trailing Nvidia ( NVDA ), Silicon Motion Tech ( SIMO ) and Maxlinear ( MXL ). Its chips are used in Sony’s PlayStation 4, Microsoft ( MSFT ) Xbox One and Blu-ray/DVD players. It competes against tech majors like Intel ( INTC ), Texas Instruments ( TXN ) and Qualcomm ( QCOM ), all Apple ( AAPL ) suppliers.