Headline Feeds
Ariba, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARBA) was up 4 3/4 to 76 3/4 in early trading Thursday after the business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce software maker announced better-than-expected results for the second quarter ended March 31st.
Ariba posted a loss before non-operating charges of $11.5 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with a loss of $2.8 million, or 7 cents, in the year-earlier quarter. Analysts were expecting a loss of 8 cents a share, according to First Call. Including charges, the loss for the quarter was $125.9 million, or 70 cents a share.
Revenue for the quarter surged to a record $40.0 million, as the company signed a number of major licensing and strategic agreements. "The second quarter was a watershed period for Ariba," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Keith Krach. "We increased our customer 
base by over 100 percent and grew our revenues by 322 percent."
During the latest quarter, Ariba entered into an alliance with IBM (NYSE: IBM) and i2 Technologies to develop and market what the companies are calling "the industry's first end-to-end solution for business-to-business e-commerce and collaboration." Major customers signed during the quarter include Dell Computer Corp. and American Express.
Ariba also split its stock 2-for-1 during the quarter. Results are adjusted to reflect the split.
