Agilent soars past estimates

February 17, 2000: 7:32 p.m. ET

Hewlett-Packard spin-off shreds earnings forecasts in debut quarter

NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Agilent Technologies on Thursday reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that were well ahead of Wall Street's expectations in its first full quarter as an independent company.
    Agilent (A: Research, Estimates), which makes test and measurement equipment for electronics, communications and health-sciences companies, said its net income during the quarter ended Jan. 31 was $131 million, or 28 cents per diluted share. That's up 77 percent from pro forma earnings of $74 million, or 19 cents per diluted share, during the same period a year earlier.
    Analysts polled by earnings tracker First Call had expected the company to post a profit of 22 cents per share during the quarter.
    Executives at Agilent, which was spun off from computer giant Hewlett-Packard (HWP: Research, Estimates) in November, also reported that revenue rose 26 percent to $2.2 billion.
    "Our first quarter as an independent company was a success on many fronts," Edward W. 'Ned' Barnholt, Agilent's president and chief executive, said in a prepared statement. "The strong growth this quarter was driven by excellent demand for our products and services that address the communications market."
    The company also reported a surge in orders during the quarter. Total orders during the quarter were up 36 percent from the year-ago period, coming in at $2.7 billion, with particular increases coming from Asia-Pacific and Latin America, where orders were up 57 percent and 73 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, orders from Canada surged $160 percent to 112 million, executives said.
    In light of the most recent quarter's strong results, Agilent executives also raised their growth forecast for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Previously, the company had forecast fiscal 2000 revenue of $9.4 billion, a 13 percent year-over-year increase. "Given the strength of our start to the year, we now believe that revenue could grow about 20 percent year over year and be closer to $10 billion," said Bob Walker, Agilent's chief financial officer.
    Walker said that revenue should come in at 11.5 billion in fiscal 2001.
    Agilent shares ticked up 16, or nearly 20 percent, to 97 in New York Stock Exchange trade Thursday. In after-hours trade, they slipped to 95.
    Since the company first went public, Agilent's stock has risen more than 216 percent from the offering price of 30.