Yahoo Finance Trending tickers: Burberry | Cisco | Palo Alto | Royal Mail
The latest investor updates on stocks that are trending on Thursday
Burberry (BRBY.L)
Burberry shares plunged after the luxury fashion group warned its adjusted operating profit for fiscal year 2024 could be at the “lower end” of the current consensus range of £552m ($684.34m) to £668m ($828.15m).
The company reported a sharp slowdown in comparable store sales growth in its second quarter to 1%, down from 18% in the first three months, with growth in all regions slowing.
"While the macroeconomic environment has become more challenging recently, we are confident in our strategy to realise our potential as the modern British luxury brand, and we remain committed to achieving our medium and long-term targets," said chief executive Jonathan Akeroyd.
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The outlook came as the company delivered a 4% increase in first-half sales to £1.40bn. Adjusted operating profits were down 6% year-on-year at £223m.
"While the long term outlook for the luxury sector remains positive, trading conditions are tough right now and appear to be getting tougher. This means the near term outlook for Burberry and its peers are murky at best," Charlie Huggins, manager of the Quality Shares portfolio at Wealth Club, said.
Despite the weaker results, Burberry still raised its interim dividend by 11% to 18.3p.
Cisco (CSCO)
Cisco shares were down as much as 11% in extended trading on Wednesday after the networking hardware maker cut its full-year revenue and profit forecasts.
In the first quarter, the tech giant reported adjusted earnings of $1.11 per share versus estimates of $1.03 and revenue of $14.67bn compared to an expectation of $14.63bn.
"Cisco saw a slowdown of new product orders in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 and believes the primary reason is that customers are currently focused on installing and implementing products in their environments following exceptionally strong product delivery over the past three quarters," the company said.
For the full year, Cisco expects revenue between $53.8bn and $55bn, and adjusted per-share earnings in the range of $3.87 to $3.93.
The company had previously forecast annual revenue of $57bn to $58.2bn, and adjusted per-share earnings of $4.01 to $4.08.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW)
Shares in Palo Alto dropped more than 5% in after hour as its billings guidance fell short of the Wall Street consensus.
The cyber security company reported adjusted earnings of $1.38 per share compared to estimates of $1.16 and revenue of $1.9bn versus estimates of $1.82bn, beating expectations. But second quarter billings guidance of $2.34bn-$2.39bn fell short of the $2.43bn estimate.
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“An unprecedented level of attacks is fuelling strong demand in the cybersecurity market,” said chief executive officer Nikesh Arora in a statement.
Billings refer to the total amount of revenue generated from sales made within a specified period.
Royal Mail (IDS.L)
Royal Mail owner International Distributions Services shares slipped this session after reporting half-year losses of £319m.
Royal Mail reported underlying losses of £319m for the six months to September 24, against losses of £219m a year earlier.
It attributed the deeper loss to a pay deal with postal workers that increased costs, as well as “drag from customer losses” suffered during 18 days of industrial action.
“Looking ahead, we are transforming our business every day, but we can't do it all on our own. We also need the regulator and the Government to do their bit. It's simply not sustainable to maintain a network built for 20 billion letters when we're now only delivering seven billion.,” Martin Seidenberg, the new chief executive of IDS, said.
Total revenue fell 2.9% year-on-year, with higher prices helping offset dwindling volumes.
Royal Mail delivered 578 million parcels in the period, down from 613 million by the same point in 2022.
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