The market looks to be poised for a positive opening this morning, continuing yesterday afternoon's rally, and so does Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX). The company's shares have traded up over 6% following a strong increase in its quarterly earnings. Xerox, the leading provider of digital printers and document management services, reported this morning that its fourth quarter profit jumped 79%, helped by strong sales of high-end printing machines and services.
The office equipment maker posted a quarterly net income of $382 million, or 41 cents per share. The strong numbers were driven by solid gains from higher-margin color systems sales. Xerox earnings figures show an improved performance compared with last year's, when the company reported a profit of $214 million, or 22 cents a share. Analysts expected Xerox to show earnings of 40 cents a share in the quarter.
Xerox also posted a rise of 11% in its quarterly sales, which climbed up to $4.88 billion from $4.38 billion a year earlier. Analysts have forecast a quarterly revenue of $4.83 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
Looking ahead, the company sees a positive earnings outlook and said it is on track to meet its 2008 full-year profit forecast. Xerox also announced its board approved an increase of its stock buyback plan by $1 billion. For the current first quarter, the company is expecting to see earnings between 25 and 28 cents. Analysts expected earnings of 28 cents.
Xerox had to face a pretty difficult second half of 2007 when it saw its shares losing significant market value, as the company was hurt by fiscal troubles. But recent solid profits have given the company back its optimism and it is still looking to boost revenue.
From the 12-month chart on the stock, the stock was definitely in need of some good news this morning:
Eliza Popescu is a financial writer for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.
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