Citrix 1Q Adjusted Earnings Top Expectations

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Citrix Systems Inc., which makes software and machinery that helps companies remotely manage their applications, on Wednesday said its first-quarter profit plummeted 80 percent, weighed down by charges, but adjusted earnings beat Wall Street's view, giving shares a boost.

Quarterly earnings sank to $6.9 million, or 4 cents per share, from $34.4 million, or 18 cents per share, in the same period last year. Results included $21 million in restructuring charges and other special items.

Excluding those items, Citrix said it earned 32 cents per share, topping the 31 cents-per-share expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Sales slipped 2 percent to $369.1 million from $377 million in the year-ago quarter, beating Wall Street's expectations for $359.2 million in sales. Product license revenue dropped 24 percent to $111.9 million, but increases in sales from license updates, online services and technical services helped offset the decline.

Shares of Citrix gained $1.35, or 5.3 percent, to $27 in after-hours trading, after slipping 19 cents to close at $25.65.

Citrix also said its board authorized a new $300 million stock buyback program.