Cognizant Seen Posting Higher Q1 Profit

Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) reports tomorrow. Here’s a preview from Reuters:

IT service provider Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (CTSH.O) is expected to post a higher first-quarter profit as it benefits from a stable and diversified customer base, even as the sector has been hit by delays in client decision-making and sluggish demand.
Analysts expect Cognizant to back its 2009 revenue outlook, citing its ability to handle pricing pressure and the offshore focus maintained by its largest customer, JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N).
“JPMorgan, among other banks, is probably in a better shape, and on top of that the bank seems to be continuing to have a very strong commitment to its offshore strategy,” Cowen & Co analyst Moshe Katri said by phone.
JPMorgan accounts for about 4 percent to 6 percent of Cognizant’s revenue, according to Katri. Other key customers include Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), eBay Inc (EBAY.O) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX).
“The better sentiment around financials and stock markets is an incremental positive as Cognizant gets 45 percent of revenue from the financial services sector,” UBS analyst Jason Kupferberg said.
For the first quarter, analysts on average expect the company to earn 37 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $735.4 million, according to Reuters Estimates. The company posted a profit of 34 cents a share in the year-earlier quarter.
In February, Cognizant had forecast 2009 full-year revenue of at least $3.1 billion. Analysts are expecting $3.06 billion.

Cognizant is our second-best performing stock this year. It’s up more than 40%.

Posted by on May 4th, 2009 at 11:48 am


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