Irvine-based Newport Corp. after the close of intraday trading reported fourth quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations and provided a revenue and profit outlook for the current quarter.
The company, which makes lasers and related controls for telecommunications, chipmakers, researchers, medical companies and manufacturers, posted revenue of $158.7 million in the recently ended quarter, up nearly 3% from a year ago and beating analyst forecasts of about $156 million.
Adjusted profits topped $15.4 million, up less than 1%, but above analysts’ expectations.
Wall Street was expecting profits of $10.3 million.
For the year Newport Corp. posted record revenue of $605.2 million, up 8% from 2013.
Adjusted profits hit $54.2 million, up nearly 30%.
“We achieved record sales in 2014, and with our strong backlog, the contributions of our newly-acquired businesses and our new product introductions, we are confident that we will set a new record in 2015,” Chief Executive Robert Phillippy said. “We also expect to deliver another double-digit increase in earnings per share on a year-over-year basis.”
Newport Corp. projects revenue in the current quarter between $147 million to $154 million.
Analyst are forecasting sales of $153.1 million.
Adjusted profits are pegged between $10.75 million and $13.5 million, above Wall Street estimates of $9.1 million.
Investors may have seized upon the profit target, sending shares up 1.3% in after-hours trading yesterday, with an additional increase Tuesday at midday, to a market value of about $812 million.