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SAN FRANCISCO Adobe Systems on Thursday reported a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $ 222.33 million, or 44 cents a share, compared with a profit of $ 173.72 million, or 35 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $ 1.153 billion, up slightly from $ 1.152 billion. Adjusted profit was 61 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet on average were expecting a profit of 56 cents a share, on revenue of $ 1.1 billion. Shares of Adobe were up 1.8% in after-hours trading.

LOS ANGELES Japanese stocks opened weaker Friday as the Bank of Japan’s tankan survey of business sentiment showed a worse-than-expected result for large manufacturers, although the yen’s drop to its lowest level against the dollar since late March helped limit losses. The Nikkei Stock Average traded 0.3% lower at 9,709.96, though off its opening lows, while the broader Topix edged down 0.1%. The downbeat result from the tankan appeared to weigh on some manufacturing names, with Olympus Corp. down 1.6%, TDK Corp. falling 1.2%, Honda Motor Co. lower by 0.7%, and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. losing 1.2%. Among the gainers, Sharp [...]

SAN FRANCISCO Ciena Corp. shares rose 5% Thursday, to $ 16.28, following the optical-networking company’s fiscal fourth-quarter results. Before the market opened, Ciena reported a loss of $ 38.8 million, or 39 cents a share, on $ 465.5 million in revenue, compared with a loss of $ 22.3 million, or 23 cents a share, on sales of $ 455.5 million in the same period a year ago. Excluding one-time items, Ciena would have lost 7 cents a share. Wall Street analysts had forecast Ciena to lose 6 cents a share on $ 468.3 million in revenue. For its fiscal first [...]

SAN FRANCISCO Shares of Palo Alto Networks fell more than 3% to $ 49.56 on Friday morning. Late Thursday, the maker of enterprise network software reported a 50% jump in revenue for its first fiscal quarter, with the results slightly beating Wall Street’s expectations. It’s forecast was in line with Street estimates. In a note to clients on Friday, Daniel Ives of FBR Capital maintained a market perform rating and $ 58 price target on the stock, praising the “impressive top-line growth” but adding that the in-line forecast creates “a dynamic we believe will disappoint investors who were hoping for [...]

ATHENS Greece has extended the deadline for its banks to report already-delayed financial results to December 21, according to a finance ministry decree published on Friday by a financial website. The government had postponed the deadline to October 31 and then to the end of November, pending their recapitalization from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. “The deadline to publish listed banks’ financial results for the third quarter of 2012… is extended to December 21,” said the decree published by the www.taxheaven.gr website. The new reporting date comes after a December 13 deadline to complete a debt buy [...]

BELLEVUE, Washington – Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer defended his company’s record on innovation and financial performance at the annual shareholders’ meeting, but conceded that he should have moved faster to get into the booming tablet market dominated by Apple Inc’s iPad. Bill Gates, co-founder and now chairman of the world’s largest software company, was one of the first to champion tablet-sized devices more than 10 years ago, but Microsoft failed to come up with a product that worked as well as the iPad. Gates was silent throughout the meeting, attended by about 450 shareholders. “We’re innovating on the [...]

SAN FRANCISCO Workday Inc. on Wednesday reported a third-quarter loss of $ 41.5 million, or 67 cents a share, compared with a loss of $ 19.8 million, or 66 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $ 72.62 million, up from $ 36.45 million. On an adjusted basis, the company reported a loss of 39 cents a share. Analysts were expecting the company to report a loss of 49 cents a share, on revenue of $ 64.05 million, according to a consensus survey by FactSet. For the current quarter, the company said it expects revenue in the range [...]

NEW YORK Retail stocks fell on Monday after data showed Black Friday sales dipped despite an increase in store traffic. Mall traffic tracker ShopperTrak said on Saturday retail sales decreased 1.8% on Friday, the biggest traffic and sales day of the holiday season, despite a 3.5% increase in retail foot traffic. Teen retailer Aeropostale Inc. fell 5.5% after Janney cut its rating on the stock to neutral from buy, adding improvement at its rival Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and strong product acceptance at American Eagle Outfitters Inc. could shift spending away from the company. Amazon.com Inc. and Best Buy Co. [...]

The election results were clear, but the path forward is not. With Washington moving on with essentially the same trilateral team that froze fiscal policy for the last two years, it’s not obvious or certain what will happen to taxes, interest rates, markets and the economy under President Barack Obama, the Democrat-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. “We still live with uncertainty on this that puts us all in planning-land dilemma,” says Greg Rosica, a tax partner with Ernst & Young. That doesn’t mean individuals can’t start to place some bets. There will be financial effects they can’t [...]

SAN FRANCISCO Shares of Groupon Inc. plunged 24% to $ 2.99 at the opening bell a day after the online daily deals site missed its own revenue forecast for the third quarter. Morgan Stanley also cut its rating for the stock to equal weight from overweight, citing “slower growth and lower margins.” Groupon shares have fallen 85% since the beginning of the year, and have dropped nearly seven-fold from the initial public offering price of $ 20. The company went public in November 2011.