Amdocs shares jump on solid 1Q forecast

Shares of Amdocs Ltd. rose Thursday after the telecommunications equipment maker posted higher fourth-quarter earnings and gave a solid forecast for its fiscal first quarter, a sign that demand for its products may be stabilizing.

The latest quarter's revenue fell 14 percent from a year earlier, but it improved sequentially. For the fiscal first quarter ending in December, Amdocs expects a profit of 38 cents to 44 cents per share. Excluding some one-time items, the company sees a profit of 51 cents to 55 cents per share.

Kaufman Bros. analyst Karl Keirstead said that "the mood of its (telecom) clients improved and the decision-making and (technology) spending paralysis eased."

He said the company is seeing a stabilization of "new project-based spending as well as add-on work for existing contracts" a quarter or two sooner than it expected.

In addition, the stabilization was broad-based and not confined to any particular client, region or service offering, he said.

Keirstead reaffirmed a "Hold" rating on Amdocs and raised his target price to $28 from $26.

Shares rose $2.35, or 9.6 percent, to $26.82 in afternoon trading. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $14.61 and $27.65.