TOP STORIES
Lake Forest’s Western Digital Corp., the top maker of disk drives, acquired some assets of Japanese glass maker Hoya Corp. for $235 million. The cash deal is expected to close during the current quarter. The move helps Western Digital get a steady supply of glass used in 2.5-inch disk drives. As part of the deal, Western Digital is set to get Hoya’s Singapore facilities, related patents and some research and development offices in Nagasaka, Japan. Hoya’s current workers are set to join Western Digital.
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine-based communications chipmaker Broadcom Corp. reported quarterly results that beat Wall Street’s expectations. Excluding charges, Broadcom posted profits of $282 million, up 61% from a year earlier and beating analysts’ expected $233 million. The company reported sales of $1.46 billion, up 71% and topping the $1.38 billion expected by analysts.
Costa Mesa’s Emulex Corp. narrowed its profit outlook for the current quarter to a range of $13 million to $16 million, roughly in line with analysts’ expectations of $15 million in profits. The company said it expects sales of $100 million to $103 million, which fell short of the $107 million expected by analysts.
Epicor Software Corp., a maker of business software, reported an outlook for the current quarter that fell short of Wall Street’s top-line expectations. Epicor said it’s expecting sales of $104 million, roughly flat from a year earlier and short of analysts’ expected $106 million in revenue. The company expects adjusted profits of about $7 million to $9 million, up a bit from a year ago and in line with Wall Street’s expectations of $8 million in profits.
HEALTHCARE
Regulators approved a prostate cancer treatment by Dendreon Corp., a Seattle biotechnology company that’s building a plant in Seal Beach. The Food and Drug Administration approved Provenge, Dendreon’s drug that trains the body’s immune system to fight prostate cancer. The drug is set to be produced in Orange County as well as other sites.
Brea-based Beckman Coulter Inc. reported first-quarter results last week that beat Wall Street’s expectations but as expected lowered its 2010 profit outlook after a March recall of a test to diagnose heart disease. Beckman reported an adjusted profit of $61.8 million, up 35% from a year earlier and above analysts’ expectations of $60.8 million. First-quarter revenue came in at $881 million, up 27% and ahead of Wall Street’s expectation of $876.1 million. The medical device maker now expects its adjusted full-year profit to come in at $306.6 million to $320.9 million.
Irvine’s Allergan Inc. reported a first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ expectations and raised its 2010 outlook at the lower end. Allergan, maker of Botox and other drugs, posted a profit excluding special items of $199.6 million, up 18% from a year earlier and above Wall Street’s forecast of $184.3 million. For the current quarter, Allergan said it expects adjusted profits of $242.6 million to $248.8 million. Wall Street had been expecting Allergan’s second-quarter profit to come in at $242.6 million. Allergan forecast quarterly sales of $1.19 billion to $1.23 billion.
REAL ESTATE
Santa Ana-based First American Corp. reported quarterly results that topped Wall Street expectations but saw profits and revenue fall at its information services business that’s set to be the basis of the company after an upcoming spinoff. First American, which plans to spin off its dominant title insurance business by June 1, reported a profit of $29.5 million, down 18% from a year earlier but beating Wall Street’s forecast of $24 million in profits. The company’s revenue came in at $1.4 billion, down 1% from a year earlier but better than the $1.33 billion expected.
APPAREL
Costa Mesa-based clothing maker Volcom Inc. reported better-than-expected quarterly results and offered a sales forecast that at the high end surpassed what Wall Street had been expecting. For the three months through March, Volcom reported a profit of $7.5 million, up 78% from a year earlier and topping the $4.6 million expected on average by analysts. Sales came in at $77.4 million, up 13% and exceeding the $73.8 million expected by Wall Street. Volcom offered a slightly mixed outlook for the current quarter with a higher sales forecast but a warning of a possible loss of $484,000 to a profit of $484,000. The company said it expects sales of $59 million to $62 million, which at the high end topped the $59.6 million analysts had been looking for.
