Stocks to watch: Nokia, Cisco
The Finnish handset maker says it's working on a tablet computer, while Cisco is in talks to buy a software developer for television networks.
Cisco (CSCO -1.61%) announced Thursday it will acquire NDS, a developer of software for multi-channel television networks, for $5 billion. Cisco said the acquisition of NDS will deepen its reach in emerging markets and accelerate the delivery of Videoscape, Cisco's platform for enabling service providers and media companies to deliver next-generation entertainment experiences. The acquisition has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close during the second half of the year. Cisco said the acquisition will be accretive to earnings per share in the first full year on a non-GAAP basis. NDS was founded in Israel and is headquartered in London. The company, which operates a large development center in Jerusalem, is 51% owned by the Permira private-equity fund and 49% by News Corp (NWSA +0.85%).
Nokia (NOK +2.02%) is creating a tablet computer, the handset maker's design chief told a Finnish magazine. "We are working on it," said Marko Ahtisaari, according to Kauppalehti Optio. Ahtisaari said he is spending a third of his time working on the tablet. Reports have said Nokia planned to launch a tablet using Microsoft's Windows 8 software in 2012.
Guess (GES -11.17%), the fashion apparel and accessories company, reported fourth-quarter revenue below analysts' expectations and provided a weak outlook. Guess posted fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $95.9 million, or $1.05 a share, on revenue of $775.8 million. It earned $103.3 million, or $1.11 a share, a year earlier. Analysts were expecting profit of $1.05 a share in the quarter on revenue of $778 million. For the first quarter ending in April, the company forecast earnings of 25 cents to 28 cents a share on revenue of $560 million to $575 million. Analysts forecast earnings of 48 cents a share on revenue of $609.7 million in the quarter.
Communications solutions provider Avaya will buy video conferencing and visual communications providerRadvision (RVSN +4.42%) for $11.85 a share in cash, putting the value of the deal at about $230 million. The price represents a premium of about 57% over Radvision's average closing share price during the 90 trading days ended Wednesday.
Capital One (COF +0.99%) says it will sell $1.25 billion worth of stock in a secondary offering. The bank plans to use the proceeds of the sale to fund part of its purchase of HSBC's U.S. credit card business, a deal that received regulatory approval last week.
Retailer Ross Stores (ROST -0.37%) is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings of 85 cents a share on sales of $2.4 billion.
Google (GOOG +0.92%) will begin undergoing a major long-term overhaul of its search-engine over the next few months to improve the quality of its search queries functions, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Teen specialty retailer Rue21 (RUE -6.04%) projected first-quarter earnings of 42 cents a share to 44 cents a share, compared with the 44 cents a share that analysts, on average, were expecting.
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