Agilent Technologies (A) Stock Pops on Q2 Results, Guidance
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Agilent Technologies (A) - Get Report are rising 4.19% to $44.74 in pre-market trading on Tuesday after the maker of scientific instruments posted strong results for the 2016 fiscal second quarter.
After yesterday's market close, the Santa Clara, CA-based company reported earnings of 44 cents per share, beating analysts' estimates of 39 cents per share.
Revenue increased 6% to $1.02 billion year-over-year and was higher than analysts' forecasts of $983.3 million.
For fiscal 2016, the company expects earnings per share between $1.88 and $1.92 on revenue of $4.16 billion to $4.18 billion, above expectations.
Analysts are projecting earnings of $1.86 per share on revenue of $4.13 billion.
For the third quarter, Agilent sees earnings per share in the range of 45 cents and 47 cents on revenue of $1.03 billion to $1.05 billion, in line with analysts' estimates for earnings of 47 cents per share on revenue of $1.04 billion.
Barclays raised its price target on the stock to $45 from $42 and maintained its "equal weight" rating following the results.
"Agilent delivered a solid close to earnings season, and our most important takeaway was that better operational performance improves our visibility into 22% operating margins in FY2017," the firm wrote in a note.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings Team has a "Buy" rating with a score of B on the stock.
The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its impressive record of earnings per share growth, increase in net income, revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and expanding profit margins.
Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: A
