Agilent Shares Jump After 4Q Results, Outlook

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Scientific instrument maker Agilent Technologies Inc. posted a sharply lower fiscal fourth-quarter profit Friday, hurt by restructuring and other charges and a revenue decline.

Even so, the results and the company's outlook for the current quarter surpassed Wall Street's expectations, and the company's shares advanced in morning trading.

For the three months ended Oct. 31, the company earned $25 million, or 7 cents per share, down from a profit of $231 million, or 64 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Excluding restructuring and impairment charges and other items, Agilent earned $111 million, or 32 cents per share, in the latest quarter.

Revenue fell 21 percent to $1.17 billion from $1.48 billion.

Analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of 23 cents per share on sales of $1.11 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. Analysts typically exclude one-time items from their estimates.

"Agilent had a relatively strong finish to an extraordinarily difficult year," said Bill Sullivan, president and CEO, in a statement.