Agilent beats on earning and raises annual forecast slightly, but stock declines

Agilent Technologies Inc. announced better fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue than the medical-device company expected Wednesday, and slightly raised its guidance for the year, but shares still fell in late trading. Agilent reported net income of $504 million, or $1.57 a share, on sales of $1.28 billion, up from $1.21 billion a year ago. After stripping out a gain of nearly $300 million from a tax benefit and other adjustments, the company claimed earnings of 76 cents a share. Analysts on average expected Agilent to report adjusted earnings of 73 cents a share on sales of $1.27 billion, according to FactSet, after the company forecast adjusted earnings of 71 cents to 73 cents a share on revenue of $1.265 billion to $1.28 billion. Agilent said it now expects full-year adjusted earnings of $3.03 a share to $3.07 a share on revenue of $5.15 billion to $5.19 billion. The company had previously guided for 2019 earnings of $3 to $3.05 a share on revenue of $5.13 billion to $5.17 billion. Agilent shares declined about 3% in late trading, possibly because the second-quarter forecast came in a bit light. Agilent predicted adjusted earnings of 70 cents to 72 cents a share on sales of $1.255 billion to $1.27 billion. Analysts on average were predicting adjusted earnings of 73 cents a share on sales of $1.27 billion, according to FactSet. Shares have gained 10.5% in the past 12 months, as the S&P 500 index has gained 2.3%.

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