Verint Systems Swings To Profit, Lifts Outlook; Shares Up 7%

(RTTNews) - Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT) Wednesday reported a turn to profit in the first quarter, driven largely by higher revenues reflecting the Kana acquisition, with both earnings and revenues topping Wall Street estimates. Based on the first quarter results, the company lifted its outlook for the full year, sending its shares up by over seven percent in after-hours trade on the Nasdaq.

Melville, New York-based Verint Systems reported first-quarter profit of $28.0 million or $0.51 per share, compared to a loss of $9.3 million or $0.18 per share last year.

Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings for the period rose to $39.5 million or $0.72 per share from $23.4 million or $0.44 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.55 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Verint's revenues for the quarter rose to $257.4 million from $204.8 million a year ago. Adjusted revenues for the quarter grew to $269.3 million from $205.4 million last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $254.99 million for the quarter.

Chief Executive Dan Bodner said, "During Q1, we experienced broad strength across many areas. Customer reaction to our combination with Kana has been very positive."

In January, Verint agreed to buy customer service software solutions company Kana Software for about $514 million from Accel-KKR.

Looking forward to the full year ending January 31, 2015, the company now expect adjusted earnings in the range of $3.30 to $3.50 per share and adjusted revenues of $1.11 billion to $1.16 billion. Analysts currently expect earnings of $3.30 per share on revenues of $1.11 billion for the year.

Earlier, the company expected adjusted earnings of $3.20 to $3.40 per share and adjusted revenues of $1.08 billion to $1.13 billion for the year.

"Our financial results and business activity for the first quarter have made us more optimistic about the year, and we are raising our annual guidance," said Bodner.

VRNT closed Wednesday's trading at $46.59, up $0.27 or 0.58%, on the Nasdaq. In the after-hours trade, the stock further gained $3.26 or 7.00%.