Agilent Posts Q3 Miss; Shares Sink After Hours

Scientific testing equipment manufacturer Agilent Technologies shed 12.3% to close at $36.33 in AH trading Tuesday after the company reported a 19% drop in Q3 net earnings and forecast Q4 results below expectations. The company posted Q3 net profit of $185 million ($0.45/share) against $227 million ($0.54) in Q3 2006. Excluding items, adjusted earnings were $194 million ($0.48/share) versus $166 million ($0.39) in the year-ago period. Net revenue rose to $1.37 billion from $1.24 billion. (See earnings call transcript.) The company had forecast Q3 EPS of $0.46-0.50 in May, and analysts were expecting EPS of $0.49 on revenue of $1.39 billion. "The surprise was Japan, where orders were weak across the board and down 24%,'' said CFO Adrian Dillon. For fiscal Q4, Agilent is forecasting a "softer than normal" revenue increase "because of weak Asian electronic measurement markets," according to a release. The company is expecting adjusted Q4 EPS of $0.50-0.54 on revenue of $1.39-1.43 billion. Analysts had been expecting EPS of $0.58 on $1.48 billion in revenue.

Sources: Press release, MarketWatch I, II, Bloomberg, CNBC.com, Dow Jones
Commentary: Biotech Day In Review: Agilent Buys Stratagene For $245.5 Million • Cramer's Take on A
Stocks/ETFs to watch: A. Competitors: TEK, TER, TMO. ETFs: PHW

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