Broadridge Financial Solutions

FAIR ISAAC CORP. $60.30 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 34.3 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; Dividend yield: 0.1%) makes FICO Scores, the computer program that dominates the market for software that businesses use to evaluate customer creditworthiness. The company is also profiting by selling software that helps credit card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns. In its fiscal 2014 second quarter, which ended March 31, 2014, Fair Isaac’s earnings per share rose 15.7% from a year ago, to $0.59 from $0.51. Revenue gained 3.4%, to $185.5 million from $179.3 million. The company saw stronger sales of its credit-scoring software and customized programs for analyzing large amounts of a business’s data. However, sales at its main Applications division (62% of the total) fell 1.4% on weaker licensing revenue from software that detects bank fraud....

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $40.95 (New York symbol BR; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 120.7 million; Market cap: $4.9 billion; Dividend yield: 2.1%) serves the investment industry in three main areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. The company processes 90% of all proxy votes in the U.S. and Canada.

Without one-time items, Broadridge earned $55.1 million in its fiscal 2014 third quarter, which ended March 31, 2014. That’s up 11.3% from $49.5 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 12.8%, to $0.44 from $0.39, on fewer shares outstanding.

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AMAZON.COM $373.23 (Nasdaq symbol AMZN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (206-266-1000; www.amazon.com; Shares outstanding: 459.3 million; Market cap: $172.4 billion; No dividends paid) has raised the price of its Amazon Prime service to $99 a year from $79....

FAIR ISAAC CORP. (New York symbol FICO; www.fairisaac.com) makes FICO Scores, the computer program that dominates the market for software that businesses use to evaluate customer creditworthiness. The company is also profiting by selling software that helps credit card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns....

BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS $37.15 (New York symbol BR; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (201-714-3000; www.broadridge.com; Shares outstanding: 119.4 million; Market cap: $4.4 billion; Dividend yield: 2.3%) has bought Emerald Connect, a private firm that helps financial advisors promote their services. Emerald helps its clients set up websites, publish newsletters, conduct seminars and manage direct mail and online marketing campaigns.

Broadridge plans to merge Emerald with its Forefield subsidiary, which sells online courses and related services to financial professionals.

The company paid $60 million for Emerald, which is equal to 1.9 times the $31.2 million, or $0.25 a share, it earned in the latest quarter.
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VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC., $47.56, New York symbol VZ, has completed its purchase of the 45% of Verizon Wireless that it didn’t already own from U.K.-based Vodafone Group (Nasdaq symbol VOD). The company now owns 100% of Verizon Wireless, which sells wireless services to 102.8 million subscribers in the U.S. In 2013, it supplied 67% of Verizon’s revenue and 81% of its earnings. Verizon paid $130 billion in cash and shares for Vodafone’s stake. To put that in context, Verizon’s market cap (or the total value of all its outstanding shares) is $196.7 billion....

ACI WORLDWIDE INC., $59.84, symbol ACIW on Nasdaq, makes software that processes transactions involving credit cards, debit cards, automated teller machines, point-of-sale terminals and interbank payments. Its products also help cut fraud. In the quarter ended December 31, 2013, ACI’s revenue rose 26.4%, to $283.2 million from $224.1 million a year earlier. That’s mainly due to contributions from two acquisitions it made in 2013: Online Resources Corp., which it bought for $126.6 million, and Official Payments Holdings ($109.0 million). These moves helped ACI further expand into online banking and bill payments. Earnings per share rose 3.2% to $1.30 from $1.26....

FAIR ISAAC CORP. $52.77 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 34.9 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; Dividend yield: 0.2%) makes FICO Scores, the computer program that dominates the market for software that businesses use to evaluate customer creditworthiness....

SONY CORP. ADRs, $16.82, New York symbol SNE, gained 7% this week after it said it would consolidate its money-losing TV operations as a separate firm by July 2014. That should make it easier to sell in the future. In the meantime, Sony will focus on making high-end ultra high-definition TV sets, which are more profitable than current TVs. As well, the company has agreed to sell its struggling Vaio personal computer operations to a private equity firm, though it will hang on to 5% of this business for now. These moves make sense, because intense competition has made these products less profitable. They will also let Sony focus on its more-promising products, like its PlayStation video game console....

CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL INC., $549.29, symbol CMG on New York, is a Denver-based Mexican restaurant chain. In the three months ended December 31, 2013, Chipotle’s sales rose 20.7%, to $844.1 million from $699.2 million a year earlier. The company’s restaurants attracted more customers in the latest quarter, which pushed up same-restaurant sales by 9.3%. It also opened 56 new outlets, bringing its total to 1,595. For all of 2013, the company opened 185 restaurants. It plans to add 180 to 195 more this year. Earnings rose 29.6%, to $79.6 million from $61.6 million. Per-share earnings gained 31.1%, to $2.57 from $1.96, on fewer shares outstanding....