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SunEdison Files For Bankruptcy To ‘Right-Size’ Its Balance Sheet

Beleaguered solar developer SunEdison ( SUNE ) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization early Thursday after securing $300 million in debtor-in-possession financing, the company said in  a press release . The move had been expected. SunEdison stock, which crashed spectacularly in the second half of 2015, was up a fraction in early trading on the stock market today , at 35 cents. SunEd yieldcos — companies created to hold solar assets —  TerraForm Power ( TERP ) and TerraForm Global ( GLBL ) stocks were up a respective 7% and 8%. The SunEdison bankruptcy doesn’t include those yieldcos. SunEd CEO Ahmad Chatila described the Chapter 11 filing as a reorganization that will let SunEd “right-size” its balance sheet and reduce debt. As of Sept. 30 — SunEd’s last financial filing — the company had wracked up $11.7 billion in debt amid a rampant M&A spree that ended with its failed attempt to buy solar installer  Vivint Solar ( VSLR ) for an initial $2.2 billion. “Our decision to initiate a court-supervised restructuring was a difficult but important step to address out immediate liquidity needs,” Chatila said in a statement. Restructuring will allow SunEdison to become a “more streamlined and efficient operator” as it sheds non-core assets and takes advantage of its technological and intellectual assets, Chatila said. Meanwhile, SunEdison will continue ongoing projects and pay for products procured after the Chapter 11 filing. Employees will still receive a wage and benefits. SunEdison representatives wouldn’t comment on media inquiries, instead directing reporters to the company’s new restructuring website .

F5 Networks Fiscal Q2 Revenue Light Amid Weak Corporate IT Spending

F5 Networks ( FFIV ) late Wednesday reported mixed fiscal Q2 results and forecast current-quarter profit above estimates, with revenue guidance below views. The Seattle-based data center gear maker said March-quarter EPS minus items rose 6% to $1.68 while revenue rose 2% to $483.7 million. Analysts had estimated $1.63 and $486.2 million. “F5 Networks reported mixed March-quarter results with revenue falling below expectations, but lower taxes and an aggressive share repurchase helped EPS come in better than consensus,” said Troy Jensen, analyst at Piper Jaffray, in a research report. F5 is the leading maker of application delivery controllers (ADCs)– electronic boxes that direct data traffic to computer servers. Top rivals include Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) ( IBD ). The company forecasts current-quarter revenue of $495 million at its midpoint, up 2.4% from the year-ago quarter and below. consensus estimates of $503 million. It expects EPS in a range of $1.77 to $1.80, up from $1.67 and above analyst consensus of $1.74 per share. “Management guided revenue below the Street, citing ongoing uncertainty in the macro and IT spending environment and potential pauses ahead of the new product cycle,” said Jason Ader, an analyst at William Blair, in a research report. “Looking beyond the current quarter, even with a product refresh cycle on the horizon, we believe F5 will struggle to grow its product sales on a sustainable basis due to multiple headwinds from a maturing on-premise ADC market, competitive pressure from the public cloud, and a stand-alone security portfolio that has so far been unable to compete effectively in an already crowded security market,” Ader wrote. F5 Networks stock was up 2.5% in premarket trading Thursday, near 96 and just about even for 2016.

Verizon Revenue Misses, Warns Strike May Hit Q2 Profit

Verizon Communications ( VZ ) early Thursday reported in-line Q1 EPS but its revenue missed Wall Street views. The phone company reiterated guidance for flat full-year adjusted earnings. Verizon said current-quarter profit could be pressured by the strike of 39,000 wireline workers, which began April 13. Verizon said Q1 profit rose 4% to $1.06 from the year-earlier period, with revenue rising less than 1% to $32.17 billion. Analysts had modeled revenue of $32.46 billion. Excluding AOL, acquired in June 2015, Verizon said Q1 revenue fell 1.5%. Wireless revenue fell 1.4% to $22 billion. Verizon, which has stated its interest in acquiring Yahoo ( YHOO ), had $104 billion in net debt as of March 31, down slightly from $109 billion a year earlier. Verizon said it had a net loss of 8,000 postpaid phone subscribers, far less than the 138,000 postpaid phone customers shed in the year-earlier period. The company said it added 36,000 FiOS video customers in Q1, down from the 90,000 added in Q1 2015. It added 98,000 FiOS Internet customers, down from 133,000. In early April, Verizon closed a deal to sell wireline assets in California, Florida and Texas to Frontier Communications ( FTR ) for $10.5 billion. Verizon stock was down 2% in premarket trading Thursday, near 52. Verizon stock touched a 16-year high of 54.49 on April 5. Top rival  AT&T ( T ) is slated to report its Q1 earnings on April 26.