NOK-ACXM for a bounce?
Little Rock, Arkansas, Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Acxiom Corp. shares fell as much as 35 percent after the No. 1 builder of databases for direct marketing warned profit in its fiscal year starting in April will be less than originally forecast.
Acxiom dropped 7 3/16 to 15 5/8 in midafternoon trading of 10.5 million shares, making it the ninth-most active stock in U.S. markets. Earlier, they touched 14 13/16. The stock has fallen 50 percent this year.
Acxiom said in its second-quarter earnings report this morning that data-network investments will cut into profit in the next fiscal year, with earnings per share expected to rise 15 percent to 20 percent. That's less than the 25 percent that the Little Rock, Arkansas company expected, said John Schneller, an analyst at Stephens Inc. ``Wall Street was looking for a clean quarter and they got it, but they also got this earnings announcement and a lot of investors just decided to say `sayonara',' said Thatcher Thompson, a Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst who rates Acxiom ``buy.'
When Acxiom builds databases for other companies, customers often need more data to supplement their own. Acxiom is investing to add features and content to its data network to allow it to provide this information.
Thompson said the company's guidance led him to lower his estimate for the coming year to $1.15 cents a share from $1.26.
Schneller, who rates the stock ``buy,' said he expects revenue to increase next year even as earnings growth falls short of expectations.
The company said net income rose to $21.3 million, or 24 cents a share, in its second quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss including a charge of $60.5 million, or 79 cents, a year earlier. It was expected to earn 23 cents, the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call Corp. Revenue rose 37 percent to $246.8 million from $180 million.
In the year-ago quarter, excluding the charge, the company earned 18 cents a share. |
