Verint Systems swings to profit, but shares fall on forecast

Shares of Verint Systems Inc., whose software is used by businesses to monitor call centers and by government intelligence agencies to identify terrorist threats, fell almost 6 percent Thursday following the company’s third quarter earnings report.

The stock, which had risen about 11 percent in the past 12 months, declined $2.45 to close at $40.10.

In the earnings report for the quarter ended Oct. 31, released after Wednesday’s market close, the Melville company issued a forecast for the year ending Jan. 31, 2019, for revenue of about $1.2 billion.

Third quarter net income was $3.1 million or 4 cents per diluted share, compared with a loss of $7.4 million, or 13 cents per diluted share, in the 2016 period.

Revenue increased to $280.7 million from $258.9 million in the year-earlier quarter, paced by an increase of about $9 million in the call center business and about $13 million in the cyberintelligence unit.

“For the third quarter, we had sequential and year-over-year revenue growth in both of our segments and earnings increased faster than revenue, driven by top line growth and expanding margins,” Dan Bodner, Verint chief executive and president, said in a statement.

By Ken Schachter

kenneth.schachter@newsday.comkschach

Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.