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CNNfn after the bell
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April 20, 1999: 6:54 p.m. ET
SkyTel beats Street; Qualcomm qualifies and Xoom climbs
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Super Tuesday went into high gear after the bell sounded on Wall Street, with several major companies releasing quartely earnings reports.
SkyTel Communications Inc. (SKYT) beat Wall Street's expectations, but the wireless messaging company said subscriber growth was "significantly below expectations" and the company is likely to suffer slower earnings growth for the rest of the year.
SkyTel reported a first quarter profit of $8.3 million or 5 cents per share for the quarter, excluding a $3 million one-time gain on the sale of assets. Analysts polled by First Call had expected earnings of 4 cents per share.
Including the $3 million gain, first quarter 1999 earnings were 10 cents per share. SkyTel reported a consolidated net loss of $12.4 million or 28 cents per share in the year ago period.
Revenue rose 15.1 percent to $139.9 million. In addition, SkyTel said it retained Warburg Dillon Read LLC to help the company in "evaluating its strategic alternatives" but it declined to say if such a move would result in a business combination or other strategic transaction.
Internet community service provider XOOM.com (XMCM) saw better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter of 1999. The San Francisco-based company reported a net loss of $3.3 million or 24 cents per share. First Call's analysts had expected a 26-cent-per-share loss.
XOOM.com, which offers Internet users free homepages, chat rooms and email, posted a loss of $1 million or 17 cents per share in the year ago period.
The company reported revenues of $4.4 million for the first quarter of 1999, a 421 percent increase over the $800,000 reported in the year ago period.
Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) easily beat Wall Street's expectations. Excluding non-recurring charges of $166 million associated mostly with the sale of the company's terrestrial Code Division Multiple Access wireless infrastructure business and the restructuring of its workforce, Qualcomm reported second quarter earnings $65 million or 82 cents per share, trouncing First Call's estimate of 59 cents per share.
Including charges, the digital wireless communications company saw revenues of $932 million and a net loss of $43 million or 59 cents per diluted share. The company reported earnings of $26 million or 36 cents per diluted share a year ago.
Prodigy Communications Corp. (PRGY), another Internet service provider, also reported better-than-expected results. The White Plains, NY-based company lost $15.7 million or 29 cents per share in the first quarter, soundly beating First Call's estimate of a loss of 40 cents per share.
Prodigy reported a net loss of $16.6 million or 49 cents per share in the prior year first quarter. For the quarter, total revenues were $35.9 million, compared to $33.4 million in the first quarter of 1998.
Lattice Semiconductor Corp. (LSCC) also beat Wall Street's estimates. The Hillsboro, Ore.-based company said net income for the fourth quarter was $11.85 million or 49 cents per share, beating First Call's expectation of 47 cents per share.
Net income for the year ago period was $13.82 million, or 58 cents per share. Revenue for the fourth quarter was $53.8 million, down 11 percent from the $60.2 million reported in the same period last year.
Lattice also reported fiscal year results, with net income of $42 million, or $1.77 per share, down 26 percent from the $56.6 million or $2.37 per share reported last year.
Finally, biotech company Amgen (AMGN) beat the Street, reporting first quarter net income of $247 million, or 46 cents per diluted share, surpassing First Call's figure of 44 cents per share.
In the year-ago quarter, Amgen reported a profit of $187 million, or 35 cents a share. Total revenues for the latest quarter, including royalty payments, rose to $745.5 million compared from $605.4 million in the year ago period.
Sales of Epogen, one of the company's key drugs, rose 30 percent to $395 million and sales of Neupogen, another key drug, jumped 10 percent to $287 million. Sales of Infergen jumped to $6 million from $1 million for the first quarter a year ago.
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