EMC forecast adjusted consolidated revenues of $25.3 billion for the 2015 fiscal year and adjusted diluted EPS of $1.87. The consensus estimates called for EPS of $1.90 on revenues of $25.64 billion. The company also plans to buy back $3 billion in stock in 2015.
Joe Tucci, EMC’s CEO, said:
While pleased with many aspects of the second quarter, especially with the market acceptance and rapid growth of our newer products, we also saw customers become more conservative around refreshing their traditional infrastructures as they plan their IT transformations. … To capture more opportunity we have honed our growth strategy around four pillars: best-in class products and solutions that are, or will be, offered as a service; an expanded focus on cloud services; tighter coordination of our federated go-to-market approach; and a leadership team that is second to none. We are confident in our strategy in becoming the most trusted partner to customers embarking on digital transformation and hybrid cloud journeys, and we remain laser focused on enhancing shareholder value.
The company’s chief financial officer added:
We are seeing success in the growth areas of our portfolio, while our traditional storage category was impacted by customers focusing on their short-term purchasing needs as they develop their digital agendas.
The lower forecast for the full-year will weigh on the shares, but the quarter’s results were a little better than the consensus estimate for EPS and pretty much on target for revenues. Overall, not much to move the stock one way or the other.
Shares traded up about 0.8% at $25.13 just after Wednesday’s opening bell. The stock’s 52-week range is $24.80 to $30.92. Prior to this release Thomson/Reuters had a consensus price target of around $29.90 on the company’s shares.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks