Adobe, Oracle shares rise in after-hours trading
Published: Sept. 20, 2011 at 7:33 p.m. ET
Carla Mozee
Orexigen shares soar after Contrave weight-loss treatment update
ADBE
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Shares of Adobe Systems Inc. climbed late Tuesday after the software maker issued a stronger-than-expected financial forecast, and Oracle Corp. stock rose following quarterly results that came in better than Wall Street anticipated.
Adobe shares ADBE, +5.09% advanced 7.2% to $26.41 as the company forecast fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 57 cents to 64 cents a share, on revenue of $1.075 billion to $1.125 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet Research currently expect revenue of $1.07 billion on adjusted earnings of 58 cents a share.
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Adobe also posted fiscal third-quarter earnings excluding one-time items of 55 cents a share. Revenue rose to $1.013 billion from $990 million a year ago. Wall Street was looking for 54 cents a share on $1.03 billion in revenue.
Profit for the period fell to $195 million, or 39 cents a share, from $230 million, or 44 cents a share, a year ago. Read about Adobe's results.
Oracle shares ORCL, +0.88% rose 3.4% to $29.30, with the company issuing a forecast for adjusted earnings of 56 cents to 58 cents a share. Analysts currently expect 56 cents a share. Oracle also expects adjusted revenue to grow by 4% to 8% from a year ago. On a net basis, Oracle foresees revenue growth of 5% to 9%. Analysts estimate year-over-year revenue growth of 8%.
The software maker said fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings were 48 cents a share. Revenue rose $8.37 billion, up from $7.5 billion in the same period last year. Analysts had expected earnings of 47 cents a share on revenue of $8.36 billion. Oracle's profit rose 36% to $1.84 billion, or 36 cents a share, on higher new software license sales. See more about Oracle's quarterly results.
Elsewhere in the software space, shares of Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +2.81% picked up 0.2% to $27.04. The company raised its quarterly dividend to 20 cents a share from 16 cents a share, payable Dec. 8 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 17. Microsoft also said it will continue buying back shares in its $40 billion repurchase program in which $12.2 billion in buy-back authority remains.
Standing out were shares of Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. OREX, jumping 88% to $2.77 after the company said it has decided to again pursue approval of its Contrave weight-loss pill after meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA turned down the product in January, citing the need for an additional clinical trial that would study the drug's cardiovascular risks.
In June, Orexigen said it was putting the program on hold until it received additional guidance from the agency.
Orexigen on Tuesday said that the FDA has now informed it that the drug could be approved if an interim analysis of the requested trial showed no the drug posed no "unacceptable" risks. Orexigen estimated the analysis could be conducted within two years of the study's initiation, with a possible product approval in 2014.
Ahead of the evening-trading session, U.S. stocks gave up most of their gains, with caution setting in before the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting concludes Wednesday. Read about Tuesday's action in U.S. stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.65% rose 8 points, or 0.1%, to 11,408.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index SPX, +2.43% turned lower, ending down 2 points to 1,202.09 and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +3.13% fell 0.9% to 2,590.24.
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Carla Mozée is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in London. Follow her on Twitter @MWMozee.