Israel's Nice Q1 profit tops estimates, lifts 2017 EPS estimate
JERUSALEM, May 4 (Reuters) - Israeli software provider Nice reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly profit, boosted by higher revenue for its cloud, analytics and artificial intelligence businesses.
Nice said on Thursday it earned 89 cents per diluted share excluding one-time items, up from 81 cents a share a year earlier. Analysts had forecast Nice would earn 84 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue grew 36.2 percent to $308 million, in line with analysts' estimate.
"We experienced particular strength for our analytics solutions, where we have seen a high volume of very large deals," said CEO Barak Eilam.
Nice is banking on analytical tools, which allow companies to delve into large amounts of data to spot fraud and fend off security threats, to deliver faster growth amid slowing sales growth of systems helping call centres and surveillance of buildings and transport networks.
The company forecast second-quarter revenue of $309-$319 million and EPS excluding one-time items of 84-90 cents. For all of 2017, Nice reiterated a revenue estimate of $1.33-$1.354 billion but raised its estimate for EPS ex-items to $3.85-$4.05. (Reporting by Steven Scheer)
