A look at the day's major movers
RIS ERS
Qualstar Corp (NASDAQ:QBAK), up 28% at US$11.74.
The data storage solutions provider saw fourth quarter revenue soar 45.5% to US$3.2mln from US$2.2mln the year before. Earnings per share were positive at 33 cents, versus a loss per share of 20 cents the year before.
iFresh Inc (NASDAQ:IFMLK), up 20% at US$6.02.
The Asian-American grocery chain said its chief executive officer, Long Deng, will give a keynote speech at the Columbia China Business Conference at the end of this month, entitled “how did I achieve my American dream?”.
FALL ERS
Energy XXI Gulf Coast Inc (NASDAQ:EXXI), down 23% at US$4.18.
Investors were baling out of the energy producer's stock after its fourth quarter results. Total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2017 were US$93.8 million, which includes a $33.3 million loss on derivative financial instruments, while in the third quarter of 2017, revenues totaled US$115.7 million, which included a $12.5 million loss on derivatives.
Synacor inc (NASDAQ:SYNC), down 15% at US$1.75.
The technology firm reported a fourth quarter net loss of US$0.1mln on the back of a 32% year-on-year increase in revenue to US$46mln.
The big share price movers in after-hours' trading
Software developer Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) hit an all-time high in screen-based trading after topping fiscal first quarter earnings expectations.
The company behind the Photoshop image editing software suite reported record quarterly revenue of US$2.08bn in the three months to March 2, up 24% year-on-year. The consensus forecast for revenue on Wall Street was US$2.05bn.
Adjusted earnings per share of US$1.55 were ahead of market expectations of US$1.43.
“Adobe’s outstanding growth is driven by enabling our customers to be more creative, work smarter and transform their businesses through our relentless focus on delivering innovation and intelligence across our solutions,” said Shantanu Narayen, the president and chief executive officer of Adobe.
The shares, up by four-fifths over the last year, climbed 3.9% to US$227.50 in screen-based trading.
Broadcom Ltd (NASDAQ:AVGO), still reeling from the US government blocking its attempted takeover of computer chip titan Qualcomm, found the market hard to please with its fiscal first quarter numbers.
The semiconductor supplier's net revenue in the three months to February 4 rose 10% to US$5.33bn from US$4.84bn the year before – a shade ahead of the Street's best guess of US$5.32bn.
Net income, which includes the impact of discontinued operations, was US$6.57bn, or $14.62 per diluted share. This compares with net income of US$561 million, or $1.25 per diluted share, for the preceding quarter, and net income of US$252 million, or $0.57 per diluted share, in the same quarter a year earlier.
Net income from continuing operations was US$2.35bn, or US$5.12 per diluted share, versus US$2.0bn (US$4.59) a year earlier. The consensus forecast for earnings per share was US$5.05.
Broadcom said the first quarter fiscal year 2018 net income reflected the significant impact of provisional income tax benefits realised from the enactment of the US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Despite beating the Street's expectations, the shares retreated 2.2% to US$261.88 in screen-based trading.
The company expects second quarter net revenues to fall somewhere in the range of US$4.93bn and US$5.07bn.
“In the second quarter, we expect to sustain top-line momentum with strong data centre demand for our networking and enterprise storage products, and a seasonal recovery in broadband access, to offset a sharp seasonal decline in wireless,” said Hock Tan, the president and chief executive officer of Broadcom.
“Importantly, we expect gross margin to expand and drive free cash flow above our long term target of 40% of revenue,” he added.
No one was much interested in the stock of Overstock.com Inc (NASDAQ:OSTK) in after-hours trading after the online retailer swung into the red in the final quarter of 2017.
The company made a net loss of US$95.7mln versus a profit the year before of US$3.1mln.
Underlying earnings per share were negative, with the company reporting a loss per share of US$3.84, versus earrings per share in the corresponding quarter of 2016 of 12 cents.
Revenue fell 13% to US$456.4mln from US$526.2mln the previous year, although gross margin improved to 18.8% from 18.6%.
The shares were down by one-eighth in screen-based trading at US$42.20, bringing a smile to the face of the legions of traders who have “shorted” the stock – the practise of borrowing stock and selling it in the hope of being able to buy it back cheaper later on; almost 45% of Overstock's shares are traded as short positions.