Tag Archives: stocks

Qualys Slammed On Q4, 2015 Sales Miss, Sluggish Q1 Guidance

Cloud-securer Qualys ( QLYS ) more than doubled its losses from the regular stock-trading session after-hours on Monday, as it missed the consensus analyst view on Q4 and 2015 sales and offered Q1 guidance that lagged Wall Street expectations. In extended trading Monday, Qualys stock plunged 6.7% after wrapping the day down 6.1% at the closing bell. High-tech stocks toppled Monday on continued pressure following LinkedIn ( LNKD ) and Tableau ‘s ( DATA ) poorly received forecasts late last week. And stocks were widely slammed by global worries , with the price of oil again dropping to about $30 a barrel. IBD’s 41-company Computer Software-Security industry group closed Monday down 7.2% after ending Friday down 7.4%. Shares of Proofpoint ( PFPT ), FireEye ( FEYE ), CyberArk Software ( CYBR ) and Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) also suffered Monday and closed the day down 10.3%, 9.5%, 9% and 9.3%, respectively. For its Q4 ended Dec. 31, Qualys reported $44.4 million in sales and 21 cents in earnings per share excluding items, up 21% and 40%, respectively. EPS minus items easily topped the consensus of 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for 17 cents, but sales were slightly short of Wall Street expectations for $44.6 million. Qualys wrapped the year with 70 cents EPS ex items on $164.3 million in sales, up 52% and 23%, respectively, year over year. Sales fell short of the consensus view for $164.4 million, but EPS minus items topped projections for 66 cents. In both cases, Q4 and 2015 sales were in line with Qualys’ prior guidance, but EPS minus items topped the high end of earlier views. Current-quarter guidance for $44.7 million to $45.4 million and 14-16 cents EPS ex items would be up 20% and flat, respectively, at the midpoints of the outlook. But both views missed the consensus model for $46.3 million and 18 cents. Qualys stock hit an all-time high of 55.47 on May 4, 2015, but plunged nearly 33% the next day after missing Q2 expectations. Since then, shares have fallen another 39%.

Will Global Economic Worries Slow Online Travel Giant Expedia?

Online travel agency (OTA) Expedia ( EXPE ) is set to report earnings after the close on Wednesday — and analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect double-digit percentage growth amid challenges. Expedia is set to grow revenue by 26% to $1.71 billion in Q4, compared with the year earlier quarter revenue of $1.36 billion, according to the consensus view. EPS minus items is expected to jump 16% to $1, from 86 cents, according to the poll of analysts. Expedia stock was down about 3.5% in afternoon trading on the stock market today . The market overall was down on Monday on worries  over the global economy and oil back under $30 a barrel. Expedia has an IBD Composite Rating of 52, where 99 is the highest. Analysts have been expressing concern for the health of online travel companies as of late, citing the slowing global economy and increased competition. In a research note Monday, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney wrote that web traffic to Expedia’s various properties has been slightly up during the quarter, but attributed it to the fact that the firm acquired Orbitz in September and in December  HomeAway , a large alternative accommodations platform. Those acquisitions also make the quarter more difficult for analysts to model, Mahaney says. U.S. online travel trends are slightly negative, he says, based on web traffic data from ComScore ( SCOR ) that show single-digit growth that may be slowing. But, Mahaney wrote that bookings growth is likely to remain strong and that the economics of Expedia’s per-unit costs remain favorable and growing. “Expedia has been an improving execution story for some time now, and has emerged as an excellent play on the secular growth of Online Travel and as a strong integrator of assets,” Mahaney wrote in the research note. Mahaney says that he expects executives to issue guidance on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of low double-digit growth in its core online travel bookings business. But, the slowing global economy may change that guidance. Though Expedia and rival OTA Priceline ( PCLN ) acknowledge that startup Airbnb — which lets people rent their home, room in a home, or apartment to travelers via its website — is a threat to their businesses, Priceline executives have thus far dismissed it as “not material.” Both Expedia and Priceline are adding inventory that’s similar to Airbnb’s, which in industry jargon are “alternative accommodations.” TripAdvisor Stock At Lowest Since 2013 Down more than 4%, near 56 in afternoon trading Monday, TripAdvisor ( TRIP ) stock has taken a beating thus far in 2016. The company is set to report Q4 earnings on Thursday. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the top line to grow at a modest 3% to revenue of $298.5 million, up from $288 million in the year-earlier quarter. EPS ex-items is expected to fall 6% to 33 cents from 35 cents. Cowen analyst Kevin Kopelman wrote in a research note earlier this month that TripAdvisor would be the OTA he would be most concerned about in a bear market.

Cognizant Misses Q1 Guidance As Q4 EPS Beats; Xerox BPO Lurks

Highly rated business process outsourcing firm Cognizant Technology Solutions  gapped down 8% after the Monday stock market opening bell, shortly after management disappointed investors with guidance lower than Wall Street expected for the first quarter and 2016. Cognizant ( CTSH ) beat analysts estimates for Q4 earnings growth and came in short of analysts’ revenue expectations. Its stock fell as low as 53.46 early Monday in a rough market, 23% below its all-time high 69.80 reached Oct. 28. Shares were down 7% midday in the stock market today . Cognizant stock enjoys a high IBD Composite Rating of 90, meaning it’s performing better than 90% of stocks across a variety of metrics. That’s a hair better ranking than its larger business process outsourcing (BPO) rivals Infosys ( INFY ), somewhat better than  Accenture ( ACN ) and far better than IBM ( IBM ). Like Cognizant with huge operations in India, Infosys was down 5% at midday Monday. Accenture about 4.5% and IBM was off 1%. A new concern for BPO companies — not that they haven’t been competing already — is Xerox ‘s ( XRX ) BPO spin-off, announced just 10 days ago. Xerox has been offering outsourcing for years, but as a free-standing publicly traded company its BPO is likely to receive heightened attention in the market. Cognizant declines to discuss Xerox, a spokeswoman said. Xerox stock was down about 5% at midday. Cognizant said the current Q1 earnings per share should reach 78-80 cents on revenue of $3.18 billion to $3.24 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters thought Cognizant could do better on earnings, expecting adjusted EPS up 12% to 81 cents from 71 cents a year ago, on sales up 14% to $3.319 billion from $2.911 billion in Q1 2015. For Q4 2015, Cognizant said it earned 80 cents per share minus items, up 19.4% from 67 cents a year earlier, on revenue up 17.9% to $3.23 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had on average been expecting 78-cents EPS minus items on $3.24 billion in revenue. “Our cash and investment balances, net of debt, grew by $1.5 billion during 2015 due to our strong business performance and strong cash flows,” said CFO Karen McLoughlin in Cognizant’s earnings release. She said Cognizant spent more than $375 million buying back stock in 2015, “reflecting our commitment to drive shareholder value.” Said President Gordon Coburn: “While digital opportunities significantly expand our addressable market, our rapidly growing consulting, infrastructure and business process services and geographic market expansion, continue to be solid drivers of demand for our services.” Cognizant and Infosys recovered in December from heavy flooding in Chennai, India, where they employ tens of thousands of workers.