Fair Isaac Corp.

SHERRITT INTERNATIONAL CORP., $5.70, symbol S on Toronto, reports that its revenue fell 2.6% in the three months ended March 31, 2012, to $462.2 million from $474.5 million a year earlier. Lower nickel prices were the main reason for the decline. Cash flow fell 17.0%, to $117 million, or $0.40 a share, from $141 million, or $0.48 a share. That was due to the lower revenue and higher production costs. The company’s long-term debt of $1.7 billion is equal to its market cap. However, it holds cash of $592.9 million, or $2.00 a share....

ALIMENTATION COUCHE-TARD, $31.94, symbol ATD.B on Toronto, reported sharply higher sales and earnings in the latest quarter. The company is the largest convenience store operator in Canada, with over 2,000 outlets. It also has nearly 3,700 U.S. stores. The Canadian stores operate under the Couche-Tard and Mac’s banners, while the U.S. stores mainly use the Circle K brand. In the three months ended January 29, 2012, Couche-Tard’s earnings rose 24.7% to $86.8 million from $69.6 million a year earlier (all figures except share price in U.S. dollars). Earnings per share rose 28.9%, to $0.49 from $0.38, on fewer shares outstanding....

ADOBE SYSTEMS $32.46 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (408-536-6000; www.adobe.com; Shares outstanding: 493.8 million; Market cap: $16.0 billion; No dividends paid) makes software that lets computer users create, edit and share documents in the popular PDF format. As well, graphic designers use its software to create print publications and web pages. The company also makes Adobe Flash, which lets website developers make their pages more interactive by adding animation and video. Adobe recently stopped making Flash for smartphones and other mobile devices. Instead, it will focus on developing products that are based on the newer HTML5 Internet standard....

FAIR ISAAC CORP. $38.98 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 36.0 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; Dividend yield: 0.2%) makes FICO Scores, which dominates the market for software that helps businesses evaluate customer creditworthiness. The company is also profiting by selling software that helps credit card issuers control fraud and analyze their clients’ spending patterns.

In its fiscal 2012 first quarter, which ended December 31, 2011, Fair Isaac’s earnings jumped 87.4%, to $30.0 million from $16.0 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 107.5% to $0.83 from $0.40, on fewer shares outstanding. The latest earnings also beat the consensus estimate of $0.62 a share.

Savings from the company’s ongoing cost cuts were a big reason for the increase. Sales rose 9.2%, to $170.3 million from $155.9 million.

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TEMPUR-PEDIC, $70.09, symbol TPX on New York, reported higher revenue and earnings in the latest quarter. The company makes and distributes therapeutic mattresses and pillows made from its Tempur material. In the three months ended December 31, 2011, Tempur-Pedic’s earnings rose 21.7%, to $56.3 million from $46.3 million a year earlier. The company bought back $365.9 million of its shares in 2011. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 26.5%, to $0.86 from $0.68. The company spent more on marketing in the latest quarter, but it has done a good job of cutting its costs and streamlining production....

These two companies mainly serve banks and other financial firms. Bank profits remain weak, as high unemployment has dampened loan demand. Even so, Broadridge and Fair Isaac will likely continue to increase their sales to banks. That’s because both firms sell products and services that help their clients save money and cut fraud. BROADRIDGE FINANCIAL SERVICES INC. $24 (New York symbol BR; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 124.1 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 2.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.broadridge.com) serves the investment industry in three areas: investor communications, securities processing and transaction clearing. In its fiscal 2012 first quarter, Broadridge earned $19 million. That’s up 46.2% from $13 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 50.0%, to $0.15 from $0.10, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue rose 13.1%, to $476.4 million from $421.4 million....

FAIR ISAAC CORP. $39 (New York symbol FICO; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 35.7 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 0.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.fico.com) sells products and services that help businesses around the world make better decisions on customer creditworthiness.

Fair Isaac is starting to see the benefits of its recent restructuring plan, which included cutting 9% of its workforce and combining facilities.

In its 2011 fiscal year, which ended September 30, 2011, Fair Isaac’s earnings rose 22.4%, to $80.2 million from $65.6 million in fiscal 2010. The company spent $96.3 million in 2011 on share buybacks. Because of a 9.7% drop in the number of shares outstanding, earnings per share jumped 38.6%, to $2.01 from $1.45. Revenue rose 2.3%, to $619.7 million from $605.6 million. Lower loan demand pushed down sales of credit scores to lenders. However, higher sales of fraud-detection products more than offset this drop.

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FAIR ISAAC CORP. $33 (New York symbol FICO; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 35.7 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.0; Dividend yield: 0.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.fairisaac.com) sells products and services that help businesses around the world make better decisions on customer creditworthiness. The company is best known for its FICO credit scores, which creditors use to decide if they should give a customer a mortgage, a credit card or any other type of loan. Fair Isaac also makes software that helps credit-card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns. Banks and insurance companies provide 78% of Fair Isaac’s revenue.

Recovering from subprime crisis

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FAIR ISAAC CORP. $33.98 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (415-472-2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 38.7 million; Market cap: $1.3 billion; Dividend yield: 0.2%) makes FICO Scores, which dominates the market for software that businesses use to make better decisions on customer creditworthiness. In addition, the company sells software to help credit-card issuers control fraud and analyze cardholders’ spending patterns. In its fiscal 2011 fourth quarter, which ended September 30, 2011, Fair Isaac’s earnings jumped 55.4%, to $24.6 million from $15.8 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 66.7% to $0.65 from $0.39, on fewer shares outstanding. Savings from the company’s ongoing cost cuts were a big part of the increase. The latest earnings also beat the consensus estimate of $0.61 a share. Revenue rose 3.3% to $160.2 million from $155.1 million....

TRILOGY ENERGY CORP., $35.29, symbol TET on Toronto, owns oil and gas properties in the Kaybob and Grande Prairie areas of central Alberta. About 71% of Trilogy’s production is natural gas. The remaining 29% is oil. In the three months ended September 30, 2011, Trilogy produced an average of 29,035 barrels of oil equivalent per day (including natural gas). That was up 29.3% from 22,462 barrels a day a year earlier. Trilogy’s daily production should rise to an average of 30,000 barrels for all of 2011. Cash flow per share rose 82.1%, to $0.51 from $0.28 a year earlier; the production increase and higher oil prices were the main reasons for the gain....