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Mar 24, 2025
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Accenture Plc. gained 1.5% to $305.32 after the consulting services company reported results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 ending in February.
Revenue increased to $16.66 billion from $15.80 billion, net income jumped to $1.79 billion from $1.67 billion, and diluted earnings per share rose to $2.82 from $2.63 a year ago.
The company narrowed its full-year revenue growth forecast to 5% to 7%, and expects foreign exchange impact of approximately negative 0.5%.
The operating margin is seen between 15.6% and 15.7%, an expansion of 10 to 20 basis points over the adjusted operating margin.
Accenture estimated diluted earnings per share in 2025 to be between $12.55 and $12.79, compared to $11.57 a year ago.
During the second quarter, new bookings were $20.91 billion, down 3% in U.S. dollars and flat in local currency compared to the same quarter in 2024.
Consulting new bookings in the quarter were $10.47 billion and managed services new bookings were $10.44 billion. -
Nike Inc. gained 0.1% to $68.00 after the sporting goods company reported results for the third quarter of fiscal 2025 ending in February.
Revenue declined to $11.27 billion from $12.43 billion, net income edged down to $794 million from $1.17 billion, and diluted earnings per share dropped to 54 cents from 77 cents a year ago.
Selling and administrative expense decreased 8% to $3.9 billion in the quarter.
The company proposed a dividend of 40 cents per share, compared to 37 cents a year earlier.
“Nike is consistently increasing returns to shareholders, including 23 consecutive years of increasing dividend payouts,” the company said in a release to investors.
In the third quarter, Nike returned approximately $1.1 billion to shareholders, including dividends of $594 million, up 6% from the prior year.
In addition, the company completed share repurchases of $499 million, reflecting 6.5 million shares retired as part of the company’s four-year, $18 billion program approved in June 2022.
As of February 28, a total of 119.3 million shares have been repurchased under the program for a total of approximately $11.8 billion. -
Progressive Corp. plunged 4% to $271.86 after the car and residential property insurance company reported results for 2024.
Revenue increased to $75.4 billion from $62.1 billion, net income jumped to $8.5 billion from $3.9 billion, and earnings per share rose to $14.40 from $6.58 a year ago.
Revenue in the fourth quarter climbed 8% to $623.3 million from $577.4 million, net income edged up 19% to $2.36 billion from $1.99 billion, and earnings per share rose to $4.01 from $3.37 a year earlier.
During the year, the company repurchased 665,095 shares at $201.31 per share for a total worth $134 million.
The insurance company has no debt maturities until 2027.
“In 2024, we announced a $4.50 per share annual variable dividend and finished the year with a debt-to-total capital ratio of 21.2%, which is near the lower end of our historical range,” the company said in a release to investors.
During the year, the company’s investment portfolio returned 4.6%, the fixed-income return was 3.8%, and the equity portfolio returned 22.9%. -
General Mills Inc. eased 1.9% to $59.31 after the food provider and parent company of Cheerios reported lower sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2025 ending in February.
Net sales dropped 5% to $4.84 billion from $5.10 billion, net income declined 7% to $625.6 million from $670.1 million, and diluted earnings per share edged down to $1.12 from $1.17 a year ago.
The North America retail segment accounted for the highest percentage of total sales, down 7% to $3.01 billion from $3.24 billion a year earlier.
“The company expects macroeconomic uncertainty to continue to impact consumers in the fourth quarter. Its fourth-quarter plans include investments in consumer value, media support, and in-store visibility,” the company said in a release to investors.
Excluding new tariff threats, General Mills estimated net sales in the fourth quarter to be down between 2% and 1.5%, compared to the previous guidance of the lower end in the range between flat and up 1%.
Adjusted operating profit and adjusted diluted earnings per share are expected to be down between 8% and 7% in constant currency, compared to the previous guidance range of between down 4% and down 2%.
Free cash flow conversion is still expected to be at least 95% of adjusted after-tax earnings. -
Signet Jewelers Ltd. surged 17.8% to $56.91 after the diamond jewelry retailer reported lower sales in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Sales declined to $2.35 billion from $2.50 billion, net income slumped to $100.6 million from $617.6 million, and diluted earnings per share fell to $2.30 from $11.75 a year ago.
Sales in the full year decreased to $6.70 billion from $7.17 billion, net income swung to a loss of $35.6 million compared to a profit of $775.9 million, and diluted loss per share was 81 cents compared to a profit of $15.01 a year ago.
“Signet delivered more than $400 million of free cash flow, our 5th year in a row of strong cash conversion to adjusted operating income.
This enabled a reduction in our diluted share count by nearly 20% in FY25 by returning approximately $1 billion to shareholders, including the convertible preferred redemptions,” the company said in a release to investors.
“We are focused on real estate optimization and expect to transition over 10% of mall locations to off-mall and the e-commerce channel over the next three years, leveraging our average mall lease term of just over 2 years.” -
J.Jill Inc. gained 1% to $18.79 after the apparel and accessories retailer reported lower sales in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Net sales decreased to $142.84 million from $150.26 million, net income slumped to $2.25 million from $4.77 million, and diluted earnings per share fell to 14 cents from 33 cents a year ago.
Comparable store sales increased by 1.9% in the quarter and were up 1.5% in the full year compared to 2023.
Net sales for the full year jumped to $610.86 million from $608.04 million, net income climbed to $39.48 million from $36.20 million, and diluted earnings per share rose to $2.61 from $2.51 a year earlier.
The company opened five new stores in the fourth quarter and nine new stores during the year, bringing the total count to 525 stores.
J.Jill guided for the first quarter of 2025 net sales to decline between 1% and 4%, with comparable sales down between 2% and 5% compared to 2024.
Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $25.0 million and $27.0 million, compared to $35.6 million in the first quarter last year.
For the full year, the apparel retailer estimated sales growth to be up between 1% and 3%, comparable sales flat to up 2% compared to 2024, and new net store growth of 5 to 10 stores.
Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $101.0 million and $106.0 million, compared to $107.1 million in 2024.
In December, the company authorized a share repurchase program for up to $25.0 million over the next two years.
In the fourth quarter, J.Jill purchased 19,831 shares and has $24.5 million of remaining authorization.
The company increased its quarterly dividend by 14.3% to 8 cents per share from the previous dividend of 7 cents per share, equal to an annualized dividend of 32 cents per share, and payable on April 16 to stockholders on record as of April 2. -
Tencent Holdings Ltd. dropped 3.4% to $521.50 despite the China-based Internet and technology company reporting strong results in the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by a surge in gaming and advertising revenue.
Revenue increased to 172.45 billion yuan from 155.20 billion yuan, net income jumped to 51.32 billion yuan from 27.02 billion yuan, and diluted earnings per share rose to 5.485 yuan from 2.807 yuan a year ago.
The company more than doubled its share repurchase program to approximately HK $112 billion, as it steps up with AI investments for growth and ramps up spending on chips and servers.
Tencent paid a cash dividend of HK $3.40 per share in 2024, equivalent to approximately HK $32 billion.
For 2025, the company proposed an increase of the annual dividend by 32% to HK $4.50 per share, equivalent to approximately HK $41 billion, and the company plans to repurchase at least HK $80 billion worth of shares. -
Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. dropped 4.3% to $49.65 after the Chinese insurance company reported results for 2024.
Revenue increased to 1.14 trillion yuan from 1.03 trillion yuan, profit jumped to 126.61 billion yuan from 85.66 billion yuan, and diluted earnings per share rose to 6.99 yuan from 4.74 yuan a year ago.
The sharp rise in net profit is driven by growth in the company’s life and health insurance business as demand recovered.
The new business value of the life and health insurance business, which measures the profitability of new policies sold, grew by 28.8% to 28.53 billion yuan last year.
The group's number of new customers rose 9.8% from a year earlier to 32.07 million. -
Williams Sonoma Inc. plunged 5.9% to $162.09 after the specialty retailer of products for the home reported a comparable brand revenue increase of 3.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Net revenue declined to $2.46 billion from $2.28 billion, net income jumped 16.7% to $410.72 million from $354.44 million, and diluted earnings per share rose to $3.28 from $2.72 a year ago.
Net revenue in the full year dropped to $7.71 billion from $7.75 billion, net income climbed 14.6% to $1.12 billion from $949.76 million, and diluted earnings per share rose to $8.79 from $7.28 a year ago.
Comparable brand revenue jumped 3.1% in the quarter and was down 1.6% for the full year.
The company increased its quarterly dividend by 16%, or 9 cents, to 66 cents per share, payable on May 24 to stockholders on record as of April 17.
Williams Sonoma guided for 2025 net revenues in the range of -1.5% to up 1.5%, comparable sales between flat to up 3%, and an operating margin between 17.4% and 17.8%.
“Over the long term, we continue to expect mid-to-high single-digit annual net revenue growth with an operating margin in the mid-to-high teens,” the company said in a release to investors. -
Getty Images eased 0.9% to $2.13 after the visual content creator reported revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Revenue increased to $247.32 million from $225.94 million, net income declined to $24.43 million from $39.11 million, and diluted earnings per share dropped to 6 cents from 9 cents a year ago.
“Our healthy and growing subscription business, strong cash flow generation, and improved balance sheet—with our net leverage falling below 4x for the first time in over a decade—position us well for 2025,” said Jenn Leyden, Chief Financial Officer of Getty Images, in a release to investors.
Mar 20, 2025
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