ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Mixed: Sales of small and midsize businesses here totaled 112 last month, a jump from the 88 sales recorded in June but down slightly from 126 sales a year earlier, according to BizBen.com.
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine-based online game developer Blizzard Entertainment Inc. said it broke sales records with last week’s release of its latest game, “StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.” The game, which went on sale July 27, sold 1 million copies within the first 24 hours and more than 1.5 million copies in its first 48 hours. The game is seen as a bright spot for parent company Activision Blizzard Inc. of Santa Monica, which last week reported results that fell short of expectations.
Santa Ana’s Powerwave Technologies Inc., a maker of antennas, filters and other cell phone tower gear, reported mixed results for the second quarter and gave a cloudy sales outlook for the current quarter because of delayed shipments from suppliers. For the three months through July 4, Powerwave saw sales of $145 million, up 7% from a year earlier but short of analysts’ expectation of $148 million. Excluding charges, Powerwave posted $2.5 million in profits, reversing a loss of about $1 million a year earlier and beating the $1.3 million expected by Wall Street.
Aliso Viejo-based Smith Micro Software Inc., a maker of software for cell phones and other mobile devices, reported second-quarter results that topped Wall Street’s profit expectations and were in line on revenue. For the three months through June 30, the company recorded $31 million in sales, up 21% from a year earlier and in line with analysts’ expectations. Excluding charges, Smith Micro posted $7 million in profits, up 23% from the year-ago quarter and just ahead of analysts’ expected $6 million in profits.
HEALTHCARE
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International posted second-quarter results that surpassed analysts’ expectations and raised its full-year profit outlook. The Aliso Viejo drug maker reported an adjusted profit of $57.1 million, up 32% from a year earlier and ahead of the $52.1 million expected by analysts. Revenue grew 33% to $255.6 million, well above the average expectation of $239.2 million. The drug maker raised its full-year profit forecast to a range of $231.4 million to $252 million, up from an earlier range of $219 million to $239.7 million.
Irvine drug maker Allergan Inc. reported a second-quarter profit that topped Wall Street expectations and offered a cautious outlook for the current quarter and rest of the year because of “still recovering” medical cosmetic sales. For the second quarter, Allergan reported an adjusted profit of $258 million, up 13% from a year earlier and topping the $243 million expected on average by analysts. Allergan reported revenue of $1.2 billion, up 9% from a year earlier and in line with expectations (see story, page1).
Agendia BV, a Dutch breast cancer testing company, moved its U.S. headquarters to Irvine from Huntington Beach. Agendia now is in a 17,000-square-foot building in the Irvine Spectrum that includes a laboratory and corporate offices.
REAL ESTATE
Santa Ana-based title insurer First American Financial Corp., which emerged from a June split of what used to be First American Corp., reported a second-quarter profit of $33.8 million, up 18% from a year earlier and topping the $32.7 million analysts were expecting on average. Revenue was $969.9 million, down 5% from a year earlier and below the $994.5 million Wall Street was expecting.
On the other side of that split, Santa Ana-based CoreLogic Inc. posted a profit of $24.4 million in its first quarterly results as an independent company, less than half as much as it earned a year earlier and about $5 million below Wall Street expectations. Profits were down 65% from a year earlier and 17% below the company’s first-quarter results. Analysts had been expecting second-quarter earnings of about $29 million. Second-quarter revenue totaled $468.3 million, down 6% from a year earlier and up 4% from the first quarter.
Newport Beach-based William Lyon Homes Inc. posted a $4.5 million loss in the second quarter, a reversal from the $39.4 million in profits the homebuilder reported a year earlier. William Lyon saw operating revenue rise 12% to $86.7 million for the quarter, largely because of $17.2 million in land sales. Home sales revenue increased 2% to $68.7 million for the quarter.
APPAREL
Foothill Ranch-based mall retailer Wet Seal Inc. reported a decline in July sales that was worse than analysts expected. Wet Seal said July sales at stores open at least a year fell 4.3% from a year earlier. Analysts were expecting a same-store sales drop of 3.4%. The monthly drop was the fourth in a row for Wet Seal.
OTHER NEWS
Staco Systems, which makes switches and components for aviation, industrial and military uses, moved its headquarters to the Irvine Spectrum. Last year, Staco, which had been based in Costa Mesa, opened a division in Irvine to accommodate the expansion of its product line. The move to a 40,000-square-foot building at 7 Morgan in Irvine will consolidate the two locations into one.
Boeing Co. will close its A160 unmanned helicopter facility in Irvine by the end of 2011 and transfer the work to Mesa, Ariz. About 160 workers in Irvine will be laid off, although some will be offered jobs in Arizona, said a Boeing spokesman. The closure coincides with the end of the lease at the Irvine facility and is part of a companywide downsizing announced last year.
