Nuance Loss Widens On Expenses; Stock Down - Update

(RTTNews) - Nuance Communications Inc (NUAN) Monday reported a loss for the third quarter that widened from a year ago, hurt mainly by expenses which offset growth in revenue. Nonetheless, excluding items, adjusted earnings were in line with Wall Street estimates.

Investors were not impressed with the performance, dragging Nuance shares down by about 9 percent in after-hours trade on the Nasdaq.

Nuance provides voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers.

The Burlington, Massachusetts-based company posted third-quarter net loss of $54 million or $0.17 per share, compared with a loss of $35 million or $0.11 per share last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.27 per share, compared with $0.34 per share a year ago.

On average, 13 analyst polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.27 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenue for the third quarter rose to $475.5 million from $469.8 million a year ago.

Adjusted adjusted revenue was $486.8 million, compared with $490.8 million in the prior year. Analyst expected revenue of $498.56 million for the quarter.

Revenue was somewhat hurt by transition in the revenue model, lower contribution from acquisitions and under performance in the Imaging business, Nuance said.

Cost of revenue was higher at 216 million, compared with $194 million last year, and operating expenses climbed to $275.6 million from $249.6 million.

Nuance said its bookings in the quarter were up 16.7 percent from last year.

NUAN closed Monday at $18.10, up $0.19 or 1.06%, on a volume of 3 million shares. In after hours, the stock dropped $1.52 or 8.40% at $16.58.