Shares of Amphenol surged further Wednesday than any other company on the S&P 500 after the Wallingford maker of fiber optic cables said that strong orders should boost its earnings next year beyond Wall Street expectations, The Associated Press reports.
Its diminished earnings in the fourth quarter of a tough year also topped most analyst predictions Wednesday.
The stock gained $4.86, or 10 percent, to $53.13 in midday trading.
Amphenol said fourth-quarter profit fell 13 percent to $113.9 million, or 69 cents per share, compared with $131.1 million, or 74 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding costs related to an acquisition and flood damage, earnings were 73 cents per share in the most recent quarter.
Revenue slipped to $948.7 million from $949.9 million in the fourth-quarter of 2010.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 70 cents per share on $932.5 million in sales.
For the full-year, net income rose to $524.2 million, or $3.05 per share, compared with $496.4 million, or $2.82 per share, in 2010.
Revenue rose to $3.94 billion from $3.55 billion the year before.
The company said that despite recent sales weakness due to lower customer demand, order levels are suggesting that demand is picking up.
Amphenol Corp. expects first quarter earnings per share of 73 to 76 cents on sales of between $960 million and $975 million. Analysts had expected earnings of only 71 cents per share on revenue of $937.8 million.
For all of 2012, the company predicts adjusted earnings per share will grow between 6 percent and 10 percent, hitting $3.23 to $3.34. It sees sales of $4.05 billion to $4.15 billion, up 3 to 5 percent from 2011.
