Tag: Earnings

Transcat reports drop in Q1 sales, earnings

Transcat Inc., a Rochester-based provider of accredited calibration, repair, inspection and laboratory instrument services, this week reported an 8 percent drop in first-quarter sales and a more than 50 percent decline in net income.

For the quarter ended June 27, Transcat reported revenue of $38.9 million, down from $42.4 million in the year-ago quarter, missing Street estimates by $230,000. Operating income fell to $964,000, while net income dropped to $798,000 from $1.7 million in the first quarter last year.

On a per-share basis, earnings were 11 cents, beating Street estimates by 13 cents.

Lee Rudow
Lee Rudow

“We are extremely proud of our organization and the invaluable contributions our people made during these difficult times. Our staff at our 42 labs has worked tirelessly to remain open and meet the demands of our customers, particularly those in the life sciences sector,” said President and CEO Lee Rudow. “Our first-quarter results are a testament to the value and effective execution of our strategy. Our commitment to technology and process improvements positively impacted our results as increased productivity drove higher service segment gross margins. We believe the improvements are sustainable and we expect to see additional traction and margin enhancement as we move forward.”

The company’s service segment sales grew by $569,000 to roughly $23 million, while distribution sales fell by roughly $4 million to $15.9 million in the quarter.

“The 20 percent decline in distribution sales was expected and was the direct result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on customer demand throughout the quarter,” Rudow said. “Nonetheless, the contribution from the service business combined with company-wide cost-saving measures, which we implemented early on in the pandemic to protect the financial strength and liquidity of the company, and which continued in our first quarter, resulted in operating income of $1.0 million for the first quarter. This exceeded our expectation of operating income being in the break-even range that we had forecast in May 2020 when we released fiscal year-end results.”

Looking ahead, the company expects operating income to grow sequentially from the first quarter of fiscal 2021 by roughly $1 million and to be in the range of $2 million for its second quarter of fiscal 2021.

“Encouragingly, service demand strengthened through June and into July, although we are cautious with our outlook given the trend in new cases of COVID-19 across North America,” Rudow said. “For the second quarter of fiscal 2021, we expect service revenue to grow modestly versus last fiscal year’s second quarter and anticipate improved gross margin. Distribution is likely to remain relatively unchanged sequentially.”

Since reporting earnings Tuesday, shares of company stock (Nasdaq: TRNS) have climbed from $28 to $28.80.

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CooperVision parent Q2 earnings down 91 percent

CooperVision Inc. parent Cooper Cos. Inc. on Thursday reported a 20 percent decline in revenue and a 91 percent drop in earnings in the second quarter.

For the quarter ended April 30, Cooper Cos. reported revenue of $524.9 million. CooperVision revenue was down 17 percent to $402.2 million. On a per-share basis, earnings for the quarter were 23 cents, down $2.22 per share in the same quarter last year. Non-GAAP earnings were $1.51, down 48 percent from $2.94 a year ago.

Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research had expected non-GAAP earnings of $2.13. The company missed Zacks’ revenue estimates by 10 percent.

“The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges and I’m extremely proud of our more than 12,000 employees and their level of commitment and dedication to our business, their communities and their families during this time,” said company President and CEO Albert White. “They’ve enabled us to keep our businesses running strong so we can continue supporting our customers and partners around the world. Because of them, we are well-positioned to come out of this a stronger and more dynamic company.”

CooperVision, which employs more than 1,000 people in the Rochester area, saw a 14 percent decline in revenues in its largest segment, Toric lenses, to $133.6 million. The division’s non-single-use lens segment was down 25 percent to $107.4 million in the second quarter.

In an earnings call Thursday, White said that from the outset, the company made the health and well being of its more than 12,000 employees and their families a top priority.

“We instituted robust health and safety programs at all of our facilities, including staggering shifts, reorganizing workflows and implementing work from home protocols to ensure social distancing. In the spirit of our strong company culture and our commitment to our people, we continue paying employees their normal compensation, including supporting our commission sales reps,” White said. “(We) avoided layoffs, furloughed employees only upon request, maintained all benefits programs and expanded our employee assistance programs.

“We’ve also been there supporting customers by offering new and innovative online training and virtual meetings, expanding our world-class customer service efforts, accelerating our direct to patient shipping activity and providing extended terms to our small business partners,” he added.

During the second quarter, Cooper Cos. repurchased $47.8 million of common stock, or roughly 161,000 shares, at an average share price of $296.88. The share repurchase program has $359.7 million of remaining availability with no expiration date.

Cooper Cos. did not provide full-year guidance. Shares of company stock (NYSE: COO) closed down Thursday at $313.86, but in brisk midday trading Friday were up nearly 9 percent to $322.46 per share.

Cooper Cos. is a global medical device company based in San Ramon, Calif. CooperVision develops a wide range of high-quality products for contact lens wearers and provides practitioner support.

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Monro to close 42 stores, reports Q4 loss

Monro Inc. on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter sales decline, resulting in a $3.8 million net loss, brought about by a mild winter and the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the fourth quarter ended March 30, the Rochester-based undercar care specialist reported sales of $286.1 million, down slightly from $287.2 million in the fourth quarter last year. Comparable store sales — or sales at stores open at least one year — fell 9.5 percent in the quarter.

Net loss for the quarter was $3.8 million, compared with net income of $16.8 million in the year-ago quarter. Diluted loss per share was 12 cents, compared with diluted earnings of 50 cents in the fourth quarter last year.

Analysts had expected GAAP earnings of 32 cents per share. Adjusted earnings were 8 cents per share, missing Street estimates by 13 cents.

Brett Ponton
Brett Ponton

“Promoting health and safety across all aspects of our business remains our top priority as we work to continue to serve our customers, and I would like to thank all our teammates for their incredible work during these unprecedented times. Our fourth-quarter performance was challenged by mild winter weather conditions in January and February, and while we saw improved comparable store sales performance with the onset of spring weather in early March, we experienced a substantial drop in traffic due to the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions in the second half of the month,” said Monro President and CEO Brett Ponton. “In response to COVID-19, we took a number of proactive steps to mitigate near-term headwinds and maximize our financial flexibility, which we believe position us well to drive business continuity through the pandemic. Further, we are focused on streamlining our operations and implementing our investments in technology, which we believe will support our broader strategy and allow us to drive a stronger operating performance moving forward,”

Sales for fiscal 2020 increased nearly 5 percent to a record $1.257 billion, compared with $1.2 billion in fiscal 2019. Officials said the sales increase was a result of an increase in sales from new stores, including sales from recent acquisitions.

Comparable store sales were down 2.3 percent for the year. Gross margin for the year was 37.9 percent of sales, down from 38.8 percent in the previous year, due primarily to comparable-store sales.

Net income for the full year was $58 million, or $1.71 per diluted share, down from $79.8 million, or $2.37 per share in fiscal 2019. Adjusted earnings were $2.

“Overall, while our operations continue to be significantly impacted by COVID-19, with comparable-store sales declines in April and May month-to-date of approximately 41% and 24%, respectively, we are encouraged by the gradual improvement in traffic we have seen towards the end of May as stay-at-home orders are lifted across the nation,” Ponton said. “While we navigate this uncertain environment, we are focused on the elements of the business within our control, including advancing our Monro.Forward initiatives as we look forward to continuing to deliver long-term, sustainable value once the pandemic subsides.”

In response to the pandemic, Monro has implemented a number of business contingency plans to ensure that stores are operating efficiently. Those include:
• deferring non-critical capital expenditures, including its store rebrand and reimage initiative;
• reducing store hours and store labor to match demand;
• reducing selling, general and administrative expenses;
• temporarily pausing acquisition activity; and
• bolstering its working capital position.

Monro also has expanded its collaboration with Amazon.com to provide tire installation services at more than 200 additional retail tire and automotive service locations in seven states across the Eastern and Western regions of the U.S., increasing the number of service locations to more than 1,000 stores.

By July, Monro expects to have rolled out its Amazon tire installation services to all of its more than 1,200 locations in 32 states.

The company also on Thursday said it had closed six stores during the fourth quarter as part of a planned “portfolio optimization,” and not in response to COVID-19. Monro plans to close an additional three dozen stores by the end of the current quarter. The store closures are expected to improve operating income by some $5.1 million annually.

On Thursday’s earnings call, Ponton said likely the 42 store closures would be in the Midwest, where Monro has a high concentration of overlapping store footprints.

“I think it’s more about rationalizing our footprint there and we expect to preserve a lot of that customer and revenue demand in other stores where there is good density,” Ponton said in the call.

Monro on Thursday also announced a quarterly cash dividend of 22 cents per share on outstanding shares of common stock, payable on June 22 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 8.

Monro did not provide a company outlook. Shares of company stock (Nasdaq: MNRO) closed Wednesday at $62.04 and had fallen to $57.97 in normal volume Thursday afternoon.

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Vuzix posts improvement in Q1 bottom line

Vuzix Corp. this week reported an increase in first-quarter sales driven by higher sales of smart glasses products.

The Henrietta-based supplier of smart glasses and augmented reality (AR) technologies and products posted revenues for the quarter ended March 31 of $1.53 million, up from $1.37 million in the year-ago quarter. The company reported a $5.9 million net loss in the quarter, or 18 cents per share. That compares with a net loss of $6.8 million, or 25 cents per share, in the first quarter last year.

“In our first quarter of 2020, we received initial and subsequent follow-on orders for our M400 Smart Glasses from a growing number of customers and partners involved in telemedicine, which helped drive our M-Series smart glasses revenue up by 43 percent year-over-year,” said Vuzix President and CEO Paul Travers. “We also had demonstrable success with our Engineering Services efforts by entering into an agreement with a second major U.S. defense contractor to develop a customized waveguide-based optics engine. We continued our expense management efforts and successfully reduced our operating expenses by almost one million dollars on a comparable period over period basis as we continue our efforts to achieve profitability.”

Vuzix reported cash on hand of $6.1 million and an overall working capital position of $11.8 million.

“We have made steady progress so far this year to meet our operating goals for 2020, but we have more work to do. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted business operations worldwide, but it has also awakened the enterprise smart glasses industry, particularly across telemedicine, field service and remote support and manufacturing. Since mid-March, when businesses, states and countries began to shut down and work remotely across the globe due to COVID-19, Vuzix began to witness a pivoting of the enterprise smart glasses industry,” Travers said.

Travers noted that Vuzix recently has begun to experience increases in the average order size, number of orders and reorders from customers and resellers of its M400 smart glasses.

“Thus far in our second quarter ending June 30, 2020, smart glasses revenue, along with revenues associated with recently signed engineering services programs expected to conclude before quarter’s end, have already exceeded our 2020 first-quarter revenues,” Travers added. “Additionally, we continue to make great strides in our efforts to develop our next generation waveguide and display engine technologies around MicroLEDs with new strategic partners. Finally, in terms of our cash flow, Vuzix has trimmed its operating costs and will continue to be prudent in our spending while focusing on revenue-generating initiatives that can maximize our cash flow from operations.”

Since reporting first-quarter earnings on Monday, shares of company stock (Nasdaq: VUZI) have fallen from $2.87 to $2.26.

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Kodak’s losses widen in Q1

Eastman Kodak Co. on Tuesday reported a $111 million net loss in the first quarter, a $93 million decline from the photo giant’s $18 million net loss in the first quarter last year.

For the quarter ended March 31, Kodak reported sales of $267 million, down from $291 million in the year-ago quarter.

The first-quarter net loss included expense of $167 million related to the increase in deferred tax valuation allowances for locations outside the U.S. and income of $53 million related to the change in fair value of embedded derivatives in the Series A Preferred Stock and Convertible Notes.

“Kodak started the quarter on a positive trajectory and the actions we took last year to strengthen our balance sheet are helping us manage through the slowdown,” said Jim Continenza, Kodak’s executive chairman. “Kodak employees have risen to the challenge of the pandemic, continuing to serve our customers and redirecting resources to produce isopropyl alcohol for hand sanitizer and manufacture face masks using our ESTAR film base. Looking forward, we will continue with our plans to double down on digital print, launch exciting new products and realign our business to focus on customers.”

Kodak ended the quarter with a cash balance of $209 million, down from the December 31, 2019 cash balance of $233 million.

“During the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 situation, we are managing our working capital tightly to ensure sustainability for our customers and employees,” Continenza said. “We continue to pursue cost-reduction efforts to preserve cash and position Kodak for a strong rebound when business conditions start to improve.”

Kodak shares (NYSE: KODK) closed Tuesday at $2.69 but had fallen roughly 15 percent by mid-afternoon Wednesday to $2.30.

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Ambrell parent reports first-quarter loss

Ambrell Corp. parent company, inTEST Corp., on Friday reported a $7 million drop in first-quarter revenue and a loss in earnings.

For the first quarter ended March 31, inTEST posted net revenues of $11.2 million, down from $18.1 million in the year-ago quarter. The company reported a net loss of $1.1 million, or 11 cents per diluted share; adjusted loss for the quarter was $800,000, or 8 cents per share.

“The first quarter presented a number of unprecedented challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges which I am proud to note inTEST’s employees met head-on, and which were compounded by continued headwinds in the analog production test sector,” said inTEST President and CEO James Pelrin. “Consolidated bookings increased 24 percent sequentially, we posted a positive book-to-bill and we are receiving a good mix of orders across all of our divisions. Thermal division bookings increased 21 percent sequentially, with solid contributions from both Ambrell and iTS, each of which received a number of large orders in the quarter, and EMS bookings increased 33 percent.”

Pelrin noted that inTEST on May 5 repaid its Paycheck Protection Program loan, which the company intended to use for payroll costs, rent and utility costs, following the U.S. Small Business Administration and Treasury Department’s new guidance.

inTEST expects that net revenue for the 2020 second quarter will be in the range of $11.5 million to $13.0 million and that earnings will range from a net loss per diluted share of 9 cents to breakeven.

“Our guidance reflects the uncertainty sowed by COVID-19, which has led to industry forecasts and signals that are marked by diverse scenarios. While there is still considerable end-market uncertainty, compounded by the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, our diverse customer base remains the anchor of our business, and we believe our long-term fundamentals remain intact,” Pelrin said. “I am extremely proud of each and every inTEST employee. Individually and as an organization, we have risen to the shared challenges this pandemic has unleashed. We continue to drive forward as we always do, partnering with our customers to advance their technology roadmaps.”

Shares of company stock on Friday (NYSE: INTT) were up nearly 6 percent to $3.40 in morning trading.

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Bausch Health stocks slide as company posts earnings decline

Bausch Health Cos. Inc. this week reported a first-quarter loss of $152 million and adjusted earnings of $316 million, missing Street estimates.

For the quarter ended March 31, the Canadian company whose largest segment, Bausch & Lomb, is located in Rochester, posted revenues of $2.012 billion in the first quarter, compared with $2.016 billion in the year-ago quarter. Company officials blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for a $35 million decline in sales in the quarter.

By segment, Bausch & Lomb reported a $4 million drop in sales to $1.114 billion. The company’s Salix segment improved revenues by $32 million in the quarter; it was the only division that showed improvement during the quarter.

Operating income for the company was $248 million in the first quarter, compared with $287 million last year. Net loss for the quarter was $152 million, compared with a net loss of $52 million for the same period in 2019. Adjusted net income was $316 million, down 12 percent from $358 million last year.

On a per-share basis, the net loss was 43 cents, compared with a first-quarter earnings loss of 15 cents a year ago.

Joseph Papa
Joseph Papa

“As the COVID-19 pandemic began, our priority was to make sure that our employees were safe and that we took the necessary measures to protect our supply chain operations, which have enabled us to continue to fulfill our mission of improving people’s lives with our health care products,” said Joseph Papa, chairman and CEO of Bausch Health. “With these measures in place, we expanded our focus to also support global health care systems, frontline health care workers and the patients in their care, including advancing the science to help find solutions for COVID-19, donating medicines and health care products to assist in the fight against the virus and reinforcing our commitment to patient access.”

Bausch Health lowered its 2020 financial outlook to a range of $7.8 billion to $8.2 billion in revenue for the year.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant challenges to our business, Bausch Health has a global, diversified and durable business model, and we believe the company is well-positioned to return to growth after the impact of the pandemic fades,” Papa said.

Shares of company stock (NYSE: BHC) plummeted to $15.75 following the company’s earnings call Thursday and opened Friday at $16.025.

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IEC reports Q2 revenue, earnings increases

Wayne County’s IEC Electronics Corp. this week reported an 18 percent increase in second-quarter revenues and a 127-percent increase in net income.

For the quarter ended March 27, IEC posted revenues of $44.2 million, compared with $37.3 million in the second quarter last year. Net income for the quarter was $1.5 million, or 14 cents per diluted share. That compares with net income of $700,000, or 6 cents per diluted share in the year-ago quarter.

For the first six months, IEC reported revenues of $88.9 million, a 22 percent increase from $72.7 million in the first six months of fiscal 2019. Net income was $2.7 million, or 25 cents per diluted share, compared with $1.7 million, or 16 cents per diluted share last year.

“Our second-quarter results continued the momentum built over the past few quarters,” said IEC President and CEO Jeffrey Schlarbaum. “Our book-to-bill ratio was strong at 1.5:1 and notably, we are generating bookings from an increasingly expanded and diverse base of customers. As our reputation as a premier provider of vertically integrated manufacturing solutions for mission-critical and life-saving electronics continues to grow, we are attracting new projects from existing customers, taking market share away from fellow competitors, as well as winning new business awards from new customers.”

Schlarbaum noted that as an essential business, IEC has undertaken certain precautions to ensure the health and safety of its employees, including its commitment to remaining 100 percent American manufacturing, “which we believe makes us an increasingly attractive supply option for existing and potential customers given current and anticipated future trade complications associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We continue to strengthen our capabilities to meet the highly complex manufacturing requirements of our customers and our new business pipeline is strong,” Schlarbaum added. “We remain on track to open our new state-of-the-art facility this summer and believe we are well-positioned to increase our market share to drive sustained organic revenue growth and profitability as we move through the back half of fiscal 2020.”

Shares of company stock (Nasdaq: IEC) spiked Wednesday to $8.14 following the Newark company’s earnings call, but had settled at $7.95 by the closing bell.

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L3Harris posts 170 percent increase in Q1 revenue

L3Harris Technologies Inc. on Tuesday reported first-quarter revenue of $4.6 billion, up nearly 170 percent from GAAP revenue a year ago, beating Street estimates.

Net income for the quarter was $194 million, down 20 percent from $243 million in the year-ago quarter. On a per-share basis, earnings were 99 cents, down 51 percent from $2.02 a year ago.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $808 million, or $2.80 per diluted share, up from $693 million, or $2.32 per diluted share in the first quarter last year. Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research had expected earnings of $2.61 on revenue of $4.59 billion.

“In these unprecedented times, we have remained focused on protecting the health and safety of our employees while meeting the mission-essential requirements of our customers,” said Chairman and CEO William Brown in a statement. “We are also focused on supporting our suppliers and the communities where we live and work.”

L3Harris’ Communication Systems division, headquartered in Rochester, reported GAAP revenue of $1.094 billion in the first quarter, up from $580 million a year ago. Operating income was $250 million, up from $167 million in the first quarter last year.

While the company is off to a solid start, Brown said, L3Harris is reigning in its guidance as a result of the uncertain environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. L3Harris updated its fiscal 2020 guidance for revenue in the range of $18.3 billion to $18.6 billion, with GAAP earnings of $6.95 to $7.35 per share.

Shares of company stock (NYSE: LHX) Tuesday afternoon were trading at $189.07, up from Monday’s close of $186.82.

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Ultralife posts 150 percent increase in income in first quarter

Wayne County manufacturer Ultralife Corp. this week reported first-quarter financials that saw a 37 percent rise in revenue and a 150 percent increase in net income.

For the quarter ended March 31, the Newark battery and communication systems maker posted operating income of $1.5 million on revenue of $25.8 million. That compares with revenue of $18.9 million and operating income of $500,000 in the same quarter last year.

Net income for the quarter was $1.1 million, or 7 cents per diluted share, compared with a net income of $400,000, or 3 cents per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.

Michael D. Popielec
Michael D. Popielec

“Ultralife posted strong results for the first quarter, delivering a leveraged operating profit of $1.5 million, up 171 percent over last year, on a 37 percent increase in revenue while contending with COVID-19 impacts including a month-long shutdown in China and supply chain disruptions,” said President and CEO Michael Popielec in a statement. “As an essential supplier, while ensuring the health and safety of our employees by implementing the protocols established by state and federal public health officials, we are striving to ensure an uninterrupted flow of our mission-critical products serving medical device, first responder, public safety, energy and national security customers.”

Popielec also noted the company’s planned $1 million investment in the second quarter for additional test equipment to meet the increased demand for Ultralife’s power supplies for ventilators, respirators and infusion pumps.

“With a backlog increasing approximately 20 percent over year-end 2019, ample liquidity, end-market diversity and tight control over discretionary spending, we are well-positioned to both sustain operations and continue investing in growth initiatives,” he said.

Company officials said increased revenue primarily was due to the addition of Southwest Electronic Energy Corp. and higher communications systems sales during the quarter. Commercial sales increased 48 percent, while government/defense sales rose 24 percent in the first quarter.

In an earnings call Thursday, Popielec said Ultralife’s strategy is to drive revenue growth opportunities through diversification, expansion of markets and sales reach, new product development, strategic capital expenditures and potential acquisitions.

“The COVID-19 breakout continues to create new challenges and opportunities each day. Obviously, there is a significant amount of uncertainty given the impact on the global economy, our specific end markets and the worldwide supply chain,” he said in the call. “Whereas at this time, it would be impossible to predict how this all plays out, we will work to overcome any hurdles and continue to strive for another year of profitable growth in 2020.”

Shares of company stock (Nasdaq: ULBI) closed Thursday at $7.05, but were up midday Friday to $7.16.

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Xerox reports drop in Q1 earnings, withdraws fiscal guidance amid pandemic upheaval

Xerox Holdings Corp. on Tuesday reported a $320 million drop in first-quarter revenue and a 45-cent decline in earnings, missing Street estimates for EPS. The document company also withdrew its guidance for fiscal 2020 due to economic uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the quarter ended March 31, the Norwalk, Conn.-based manufacturer reported revenue of $1.86 billion, a nearly 15 percent decline from a year ago. Adjusted operating income for the quarter fell $152 million to $87 million. On a per-share basis, earnings were 21 cents, down from 66 cents a year ago.

Analysts had expected non-GAAP earnings ranging from 39 cents to 47 cents on revenue ranging from $1.46 billion to $1.91 billion.

John Visentin
John Visentin

“During this unprecedented time, we are committed to doing everything in our power to protect our employees, customers, partners and society, because we all have a critical role to play battling the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Xerox Vice Chairman and CEO John Visentin. “While Xerox saw an immediate impact to our business due to the rapid implementation of lockdown measures globally, the disciplined approach we implemented over the last two years provided a foundation to move quickly to preserve cash, continue operations, provide support to our many clients on the frontlines, and apply our manufacturing and R&D expertise to help save lives. I’m incredibly proud of the Xerox team’s dedication and ingenuity during this extraordinary time.”

Revenues in the quarter were heavily impacted by a nearly 28 percent decrease in equipment sales and an 11 percent decline in service, maintenance and rentals.

The company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filing included several mentions of the pandemic:

“The extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and financial performance, including our ability to execute our near-term and long-term business strategies and initiatives within the expected time frames, will depend on future developments, including the duration and severity of the pandemic and the extent and effectiveness of containment actions, the availability of therapeutics and the development of a vaccine, which are uncertain and cannot be predicted.

“Our operations are being negatively affected by a range of external factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic that are not within our control. For example, most countries, states, counties and cities have imposed and continue to impose a wide range of restrictions on our employees’, partners’ and customers’ physical movement to limit the spread of COVID-19 including travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders, and business limitations and shutdowns. Such restrictions limit our ability, as well as that of our channel partners, to sell, install and service our equipment for our customers, negatively impacting our operations and financial performance. Further, many countries are requiring businesses to remain closed unless they or their employees are deemed essential. In turn, businesses are requiring their office employees to work from home for extended periods of time, which is negatively impacting both sales and use of Xerox products, supplies and services. The longer this persists, the greater effect it will have on our business.”

Xerox in the first quarter reduced its worldwide headcount by 300, compared with a 150-job reduction in the first quarter last year. The company also vacated its hostile takeover bid of HP Inc. as a result of the economic uncertainty from the pandemic.

Xerox’s first-quarter business highlights include:

• Identified ways to address some of society’s biggest needs created by the COVID-19 crisis such as producing FDA-approved, low cost ventilators; antiseptic hand sanitizer; and medical-grade face masks.
• Supported clients on the frontlines including federal, state and local governments; health care providers; retailers; and emergency responders such as Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Cleveland Clinic, the Defense Logistics Agency, Morrisons and the Bank of New York Mellon.
• Expanded Xerox’s portfolio with the launch of IT Services for remote workers and learners, Virtual Print Management Service and Workplace Cloud Fleet Management, three offerings designed to support and accelerate digital transformation efforts of clients.
• Closed four acquisitions, expanding Xerox’s small and medium-sized business market presence in the U.K. and Canada.

Shares of company stock (NYSE: XRX) opened Tuesday at $17.82 and were relatively stable in morning trading.

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Transcat acquires Boston pipette supplier

Transcat Inc. has expanded its service and distribution business with the acquisition of TTE Laboratories Inc. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Boston-based supplier was founded in 1989 and provides a broad range of pipette services, from ISO 17025 and 8655 compliant calibration to repair, refurbishment and replacement, calibration management and user training. TTE also sells a broad line of pipette equipment and supplies.

tte-hr-logo-e1523476447227-resizedTTE serves the life sciences market, including biotech and pharmaceutical, as well as research and development labs and universities. The company annually posts roughly $8 million in revenues, with 60 percent in calibration services and the remainder in product sales.

Less than a year ago, Transcat acquired a Canadian calibration software firm for about $1.07 million. Mississauga, Ontario-based Infinite Integral Solutions Inc. is the owner and developer of the CalTree suite of software solutions for the automation of calibration procedures and datasheet generation.

Earlier this month, Transcat reported an increase in third-quarter revenue to $43.2 million from $40.9 million in the same quarter last year. But net income fell 6 percent to $1.48 million in the quarter.

“We had solid growth in the third quarter, despite being heavily impacted by holiday timing that caused an unusually slow December. This low volume in the last month of our third quarter weighed on margins and masked the improvements we are seeing throughout the organization,” company President and CEO Lee Rudow said at the time. “Our Service operations are more efficient and our productivity metrics have improved over the course of this fiscal year, reflecting our focused efforts to hire and train an appropriate number of technicians to support our continued growth and to ensure customer satisfaction.

“We have a strong pipeline of organic and acquisition opportunities, and our performance metrics are a solid leading indicator of customer retention, all of which support belief in our execution and long-term strategy,” Rudow added.

Transcat is a Rochester-based provider of accredited calibration, repair, inspection and laboratory instrument services and value-added distributor of professional-grade handheld test, measurement and control instrumentation.

The company’s 52-week stock range (Nasdaq: TRNS) is $20.66 to $34.18.

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Bausch Health shares tumble on Q4 loss

Bausch Health Cos. Inc. shares (NYSE: BHC) took a 7 percent hit Wednesday on news of a wider net loss in its fourth quarter. The medical products company ended the day at $26.46, down from its previous close of $28.07.

For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, Bausch Health reported revenues of $2.22 billion, up 5 percent from $2.12 billion in the year-ago quarter. The company reported a net loss for the quarter of $1.52 billion, compared with a $344 million loss in the same quarter a year ago.

On a per-share basis, the company’s fourth-quarter loss was $4.30, compared with a 98-cent loss in the year-ago quarter.

For the full year, Bausch Health reported revenues of $8.6 billion, up 3 percent from $8.38 billion the prior year. The company’s net loss was $1.79 billion, compared with a net loss of $4.15 billion in the previous year. Bausch Health’s per-share loss for the year was $5.08, compared with a loss of $11.81 in fiscal 2018.

The company in 2019 raised debt of nearly $1.3 billion to settle a 2015 lawsuit related to a Valeant U.S. “stock drop.”

Joseph Papa
Joseph Papa

“In 2019, we delivered on our ‘pivot to offense’ strategy,” Bausch Health Chairman and CEO Joseph Papa said in a statement Wednesday. “Our fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 results demonstrated the consistency and durability of Bausch Health, as we reported our eighth consecutive quarter of organic revenue growth and our first full year of reported revenue growth since 2015.”

Papa said the company invested in its future last year by increasing its commitment to research and development and by using $250 million for acquisitions to enhance its current product portfolio and add to its development pipeline.

The company’s bright spot—Rochester’s Bausch & Lomb—reported revenue of $1.24 billion during the fourth quarter, up from $1.21 billion in the year-ago period. For the full year, Bausch & Lomb posted sales of $4.74 billion, compared with $4.67 billion in 2018.

Bausch & Lomb, which launched multiple products last year, represented roughly 55 percent of the company’s revenue.

Bausch Health shares were trading down nearly 3 percent midday Thursday at $25.76.

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Xerox Q4 earnings beat Street estimates, HP not impressed

Fourth-quarter sales fell more than 2 percent for Xerox Holdings Corp., the document company reported this week, but still managed to beat Street estimates.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Xerox reported revenue of $2.44 billion, down from $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter last year. Net income was $819 million, compared with $141 million in the year-ago quarter. On a per-share basis, earnings were $1.22, compared with 37 cents a year ago.

Consensus estimates were $1.09 per share on revenue of $2.43 billion.

John Visentin
John Visentin

“We are delivering on our three-year plan. We grew earnings per share, increased cash flow and expanded adjusted operating margin for the full year, and we improved our revenue trajectory in the second half of the year as our investments in the business gained traction,” said Xerox Vice Chairman and CEO John Visentin. “We accomplished this while returning more than 70 percent of free cash flow to shareholders, paying down approximately $950 million in debt and increasing investments in our innovation areas. We are well positioned to carry this momentum into 2020 and lead the way for long-overdue industry consolidation.”

For the full year, revenues fell from $9.66 billion to $9.07 billion, while net income improved to $1.36 billion, from $374 million in fiscal 2018. Diluted earnings per share were $5.80, compared with $1.38 a year ago.

At year-end, Xerox reported assets of $6.14 billion, up from $4.71 billion a year ago. That includes cash of $2.74 billion, compared with $1.08 billion a year ago.

Fourth-quarter and full-year results include a $77 million benefit associated with an OEM license agreement with Fuji Xerox. Xerox and Fujifilm Holdings Corp. announced last year that Xerox would sell its one-quarter stake in Fuji Xerox—an arrangement that began more than 50 years ago when Xerox was at its height in Rochester—back to Fujifilm.

Xerox officials noted several business highlights during 2019, including “expanding Xerox’s relationship with HP.” Since November, Xerox and HP have been engaged in a back-and-forth as Xerox attempts to curry favor among HP shareholders in a hostile takeover attempt.

HP officials this week told Bloomberg that Xerox’s earnings report doesn’t help with “fundamental concerns about the continued revenue declines and health of the Xerox business.” Xerox’s proposal would, in essence, ask that HP shareholders trade the value of HP’s balance sheet for “stock in a company of questionable value and expose (them) to meaningful risk, due to inordinate leverage and sustained, declining performance.”

Shares of Xerox stock (NYSE: XRX) initially took a hit this week, dropping 2 percent following the company’s earnings report, but have bounced back, opening Thursday at $36.85. The company’s 52-week range is $27.25 to $39.47.

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Kodak revenue, earnings decline in third quarter

Eastman Kodak last week reported a third-quarter loss of $5 million, despite growth in key print and film product areas.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the one-time film giant posted revenues of $315 million, down from $329 million in the same quarter last year. The Rochester company’s $5 million loss compared with net earnings of $19 million for the third quarter last year. On a per-share basis, the loss was 35 cents.

“The company will continue to concentrate on delivering industry-leading solutions to customers in our core print and film businesses,” Executive Chairman Jim Continenza said in a statement last Thursday. “Looking ahead to 2020, we will focus on generating cash by growing profitable revenue, making smart investments and eliminating unnecessary spending.”

Revenues for Kodak’s film business have grown 21 percent year-to-date and volume for Kodak Sonora Process Free Plates grew by 22 percent in the first nine months.

Kodak finalized its relationship with Lucky HuaGuang Graphics Co. Ltd. in China, a supply agreement that will help Kodak fulfill its customer demand.

“We have strengthened our financial position by eliminating significant interest costs with the transactions completed earlier in the year,” Kodak CEO David Bullwinkle said. “For the year-to-date, we have delivered growth in Sonora Process Free Plates, Prosper Inkjet annuities and our film business. We plan to build on those successes and drive further cost efficiencies to help achieve our goal of generating cash.”

Kodak shares (NYSE: KODK) have ranged from $1.87 to $4.40 in the last year and were trading at $2.52 on Monday afternoon.

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