BMC, EA top consensus forecasts
BMC Software (Nasdaq: BMCS) on Tuesday reported fiscal first quarter earnings that met its downwardly revised range.
After market close, the maker of systems management software for businesses reported fiscal first quarter earnings of $49.9 million, or 20 cents per share, excluding special charges and writedowns. BMC earlier this month said it would report a profit ranging between 18 and 21 cents per share for the quarter ended June 30.
First Call's survey of 19 analysts predicted a profit of 19 cents per share.
Shares of BMC fell to 17 in afterhours activity on the Island electronic communications network, following the earnings report. The stock closed Tuesday's regular trading at 18 1/2, up 1/2 for the session.
Second quarter revenue of $372.7 million was down 7 percent year-over-year. License revenue fell 18 percent over the same period, including a 23 percent drop in North American license revenue. Maintenance revenue increased 12 percent. Professional services revenue rose 94 percent.
Company executives repeated earlier statements citing "many unforeseeable market factors" that hurt all mainframe software vendors, including Computer Associates (NYSE: CA) and Compuware (Nasdaq: CPWR).
Although mainframe business suffered, BMC's distributed systems revenue rose 8 percent. Revenue related to mainframes fell 16 percent.
Other companies reporting quarterly results:
The largest independent maker of game software reported a fiscal first quarter loss of $38.7 million, or 60 cents per share, excluding amortization and special charges. Including all items, Electronic Arts lost $42.3 million, or 65 cents per share.
First Call consensus predicted a loss of 67 cents per share.
Shares of Electronic Arts traded at 75 in afterhours activity on Island, following the quarterly report. The stock closed Tuesday's regular session at 76 13/16, down 3 63/64 for the day.
Revenue in the first quarter was $154.8 million, down 16.8 from $186.1 million in the comparable period a year earlier. Industry observers have been predicting weaker sales for game software vendors ahead of the worldwide release of Sony's Playstation 2 console.
In Japan -- where Playstation 2 has been available since March -- Electronic Arts saw revenue increase 250 percent year-over-year as the company's FIFA Soccer World Championship title topped industry sales charts in the quarter. Asia Pacific revenue as a whole rose slightly as PC games The Sims and Shogun: Total War balanced out declines in console gaming revenue.
North American revenue slid 30 percent year-over-year. European sales slid 20 percent.
The EA.com unit posted revenue of $8.8 million, up 99 percent year-over-year. The online division lost $15.8 million, not including amortization.
The provider of business and sales automation software reported second quarter net income of $9.9 million, or 29 cents per share, excluding amortization. First Call consensus predicted a profit of 28 cents per share for the quarter ended June 30.
Including all goodwill writedowns, Remedy earned 24 cents per share.
Second quarter revenue increased 30 percent year-over-year to $69.1 million. The company added 200 customers during the quarter, for a total of 5,100.
The vendor of network infrastructure management software reported second quarter earnings of 6 cents per share, excluding amortization. First Call's survey of seven analysts predicted a loss of a penny per share. Analysts weren't expecting proits from Marimba until the third quarter.
Also Tuesday, Marimba said John Olsen replaced co-founder Kim Polese as president and CEO. Polese assumes the role of chairman and chief strategy officer. Co-founder Arthur Van Hoff resigned from the board to make way for Olsen, although Van Hoff remains chief technology officer.
Second quarter revenue increased 76 percent year-over-year to $12.1 million. License revenue gained 86 percent to $9.2 million. Service revenue rose 51 percent to $3 million.>