Agilent Beats Estimates But Warns of Rough Second Quarter

Agilent reported first-quarter 2001 earnings that beat analysts' expectations Tuesday but warned of a rough second quarter.

The company, a

Hewlett-Packard

(HWP)

spinoff that makes test and measurement equipment, posted earnings of $237 million, or 51 cents a share, up from $143 million, or 31 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Ten analysts queried by

First Call/Thomson Financial

were expecting earnings of 50 cents a share.

Agilent reported revenue of $2.8 billion, up 26% from the year-ago period.

The company, which is based in Palo Alto, Calif., said the economic slowdown could make the second quarter difficult. ``We expect the second quarter to be especially challenging, given the current economic situation and over-capacity and inventory adjustments in many of our key markets,'' the company said.

Revenue growth for the year will be between 10% and 15%, with earnings margins of 5.5% to 7.5%, executives forecast.

Analysts are expecting full-year earnings of $2.39 a share vs. earnings of $1.76 a share posted for the last fiscal year, according to First Call/Thomson Financial.

Agilent lost $6, or 12%, to close at $44 during regular trading on the

New York Stock Exchange

. In after-hours

Island

trading, shares were recently trading at $43.56.