Scheduled to report results are blue-chip networker Cisco CSCO +0.50% as well as Akamai Technologies AKAM +0.84% , Groupon Inc. GRPN +1.28% , TripAdvisor Inc. TRIP -0.88% , TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. TQNT -0.15% , Atmel Corp. ATML +0.40% and Ingram Micro Inc. IM +0.31% in the tech sector. It’s also a busy session for the media and entertainment sector, with Time Warner Inc. TWX +2.81% , News Corp. NWS -0.05% NWSA -0.31% , Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. SBGI -0.40% and Madison Square Garden Co. MSG -0.08% all to issue their quarterly reports. (News Corp. is the owner of Dow Jones & Co. and MarketWatch, the publisher of this report.)
Rounding out Wednesday’s calendar are Prudential Financial Inc. PRU -0.12% , IntercontinentalExchange Inc. ICE +0.0081% , Sprint Nextel Corp. S +1.22% , Plains All American Pipeline LP PAA +0.13% , RailAmerica Inc. RA +0.06% , Genesee & Wyoming Inc. GWR -1.33% , Ingersoll-Rand Co. IR -1.49% , Mettler-Toledo International Inc. MTD +0.56% , Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc. HGR +0.34% , CVS Caremark Corp. CVS +2.09% , Select Comfort Corp. SCSS -1.56% , O’Reilly Automotive Inc. ORLY +0.82% , Whole Foods Markets Inc. WFM +1.58% , Reynolds American Inc. RAI +0.22% , Wyndham Worldwide Corp. WYN -1.05% and Equifax Inc. EFX -0.13% , among others.
Illumina Inc. ILMN +0.60% said its board unanimously rejected Roche Holding AG’s acquisition offer as “grossly inadequate in multiple respects.” The San Diego-based company, which also reported fourth quarter financial results late Tuesday, said it received inadequacy opinions from financial advisors Goldman Sachs & Co. and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Basel, Switzerland-based Roche had launched a tender offer valued at $44.50 a share for Illumina’s stock, valuing the gene-sequencing company at about $5.7 billion. Early Wednesday, Roche said it was “disappointed” by Illumina’s response. Roche also said it will proceed with nominating a slate of independent candidates with the aim of gaining the majority of seats on Illumina’s board.
The initial public offering of Caesars Entertainment CZR 0.00% priced at the midpoint of underwriters’ projected range — $9 a share. The offering is for more than 1.8 million common shares, with the underwriters having a 30-day option to buy as many as 270,000 or so additional shares if investor demand warrants. The shares will begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. In addition to the stock that the Las Vegas-based casino operator is selling via the IPO, certain investors representing about 27.8% of Caesars issued and outstanding capital stock have registered shares for resale. Of this, some 18.8% of the shares are now freely tradable, with the remainder becoming freely tradable 180 days after the IPO closes, the company said.
3M’s board approved a quarterly dividend on common stock of 59 cents a share, a 7% increase. It marks the 54th straight year in which 3M has increased its dividend, according to the St. Paul, Minn.-based company MMM +0.38% and Dow Jones Industrial Average component. The dividend’s payable March 12 to stockholders of record as of Feb. 17.
The board of L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. LLL +0.26% approved an 11% increase in its quarterly cash dividend, to 50 cents a share. The New York-based defense contractor said it marks L-3’s eighth consecutive annual increase. The dividend’s payable March 15 to holders of record as of March 1.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. FCX +1.53% said its board approved plans to increase the company’s dividend on common stock by 25%, to an annual rate of $1.25 a share. A quarterly dividend at the new rate of 31.25 cents a share is expected to be paid in May, the Phoenix-based mining company said.
Tuesday earnings recap
Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. BWLD +15.12% reported fourth-quarter earnings growth of 34% as the casual-dining restaurant handily outstripped expectations. Net earnings reached $13.6 million, or 73 cents a share, for the three months ended Dec. 25, up from $10.2 million, or 55 cents, earned in the year-earlier fourth quarter. Quarterly revenue climbed to $220.5 million from the prior year’s $163.9 million. Analysts, on average, had been looking for Buffalo Wild Wings to post a profit of 67 cents a share, according to estimates compiled by FactSet Research. The Minneapolis-based company also noted double-digit growth in same-store sales through the first six weeks of 2012 — 12.9% at company-owned properties and 10.8% at franchised restaurants.
Silicon Graphics International Corp. SGI -21.43% reported a net loss of $2.3 million, or 7 cents a share, for the second quarter ended Dec. 30, a reversal from the profit of $3.7 million, or 12 cents a share, that the Fremont, Calif.-based company generated in the same period during fiscal 2011. On an adjusted basis, the company would have shown a profit of 4 cents a share for the latest quarter, down from the prior year’s 44 cents, as revenue rose 10% to $195.2 million. Gross margin narrowed to 26.7% from 29.5%, while operating expenses rose 25%, according to Silicon Graphics.
OpenTable Inc. OPEN +0.39% surprised investors with fourth-quarter net income of $7 million, or 29 cents a share, up from $5.1 million, or 21 cents, earned in the final three months of 2010. Quarterly revenue generated by the San Francisco-based company reached nearly $37.2 million from the prior year’s $30.8 million. Seated diners who used OpenTable’s reservations service totaled 26.9 million in the latest quarter, 39% higher than in the year-earlier period.
Cerner Corp. CERN +9.48% posted a fourth-quarter net profit of $91.2 million, or 52 cents a share, up from $70.6 million, or 41 cents, earned in the comparable year-earlier period. Quarterly revenue generated by the provider of health-care information services increased 23% to stand at $615.6 million in the December quarter. Cerner would have reported earnings of of 55 cents a share on an adjusted basis, ahead of the Wall Street consensus. The Kansas City-based company also cited bookings for the most recent quarter hit $899 million, a company record and 44% higher than bookings in the fourth quarter of 2010.
A shortfall in fourth-quarter revenue growth stood out in results that Western Union Co. WU -7.11% reported for the fourth quarter. The company posted a net profit of $452.3 million, or 73 cents a share, up from $242.6 million, or 37 cents, earned in the last three months of 2010. Adjusted to exclude a tax benefit, Western Union would have earned 40 cents a share for the latest quarter, as revenue grew 5% to $1.43 billion. The Englewood, Colo.-based company also said it expects to earn $1.70 to $1.75 a share on an adjusted basis for 2012, implying growth of about 8% to 11% over comparable earnings for 2011.
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