ANALYSTS SING TEKELEC'S TUNE; STOCK JUMPS UP 13.8 PERCENT.Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer A day after reporting a 74 percent revenue increase and $29 million in net earnings, Tekelec saw the value of its stock jump 4-7/8 to close Friday at 40-1/4, an increase of 13.8 percent. ``They seem to have a lot of momentum in the business, especially in their switching business,'' said Amar Senan, a telecommunications Communicating information, including data, text, pictures, voice and video over long distance. See communications. analyst at Volpe Brown Whelan & Co. in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden . ``I think the future is very bright,'' said Senan, who upgraded his recommendation from ``buy'' to ``strong buy'' on the strength of the balance sheet released Thursday after the markets closed. Revenue for the maker of communications diagnostic and switching systems Switching systems (communications) The assemblies of switching and control devices provided so that any station in a communications system may be connected as desired with any other station. for the year was $125.1 million, up from $72.1 million in 1996. Net income totaled nearly $29 million, or $1.02 per diluted di·lute tr.v. di·lut·ed, di·lut·ing, di·lutes 1. To make thinner or less concentrated by adding a liquid such as water. 2. To lessen the force, strength, purity, or brilliance of, especially by admixture. share, compared with a net loss of $2.5 million, or 11 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. , the prior year. The year's net income includes a one-time tax benefit of nearly $9 million. During the fourth quarter, the company posted net income of $8.9 million, or 31 cents per share, up from about $2.6 million, or 10 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Quarterly revenues were $43.4 million, up 81 percent from the prior year's $24 million. The year-end balance sheet delighted officials with the Calabasas company. Chief financial officer Gilles Godin attributed the company's improved performance in large part to the strength of products that help in the delivery of communications services such 800 calls and caller Caller may refer to one of the following:
``It's been a good growth market for us and when you have a product that's been very well received, it's certainly conducive con·du·cive adj. Tending to cause or bring about; contributive: working conditions not conducive to productivity. See Synonyms at favorable. to producing good results,'' Godin said. Brian Modoff, an analyst at BT Alex. Brown in San Francisco, said he has had the company's stock listed as a ``strong buy'' for the last 18 months. Noting that the company's 1997 per share earnings were about 67 cents without the one-time tax break, Modoff raised his per share earnings forecast for 1998 to 90 cents from a previous 80 cents, and to $1.20 from $1.10 for 1999. He also credited the switching product for Tekelec's strong earnings, pointing out that the company won half the contracts it bid for during the year. ``There aren't too many companies that can claim that kind of success rate,'' Modoff said. WELL-CONNECTED Shares of Calabasas-based Tekelec jumped 13.8 percent Friday after the company reported strong annual and quarterly results. Price Jan. 2, 1998: $32 7/16 Price Friday: $40 1/4 SOURCE: Daily News research; Bloomberg Bloomberg A major global provider of 24-hour financial news and information including real-time and historic price data, financials data, trading news and analyst coverage, as well as general news and sports. News CAPTION(S): Chart CHART: (Color) WELL-CONNECTED (see text) Daily News |
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