U.S. indices were mixed on Wednesday as energy stocks were 0.7% higher, while consumer staples and utilities fell 0.9% and 0.8% respectively. The S&P 500 Index added 0.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.1%.
EnSync Inc (NYSEMKT:ESNC), Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR) and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) all made headlines after the bell yesterday.
Here’s what you should know:
EnSync Inc (ESNC)
EnSync posted impressive quarterly 2017 results late yesterday.
For its fourth quarter, the company reported revenue of $3.1 million, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 million. The year-ago revenue came in at $1.3 million.
For its fiscal year, the company’s revenue came in at $12.5 million, roughly six times what it raked in in 2016 — $2.1 million.
The company’s improvement is at least partly due to EnSync’s shift to a PPA-based model, as the company sold 12 PPA projects, garnering a total of $17.2 million.
“We continue to see an expanding market for our DER systems for commercial and industrial, and microgrid installations, whether financed, owned and operated through power purchase agreements, or directly sold to an end customer,” said Brad Hansen, president and chief executive officer of EnSync Energy Systems in the earnings call.
EnSync’s cash balance at the end of June 2017 was $11.8 million.
ESNC stock grew 26% after hours Wednesday.
Herman Miller, Inc. (MLHR)
Herman Miller unveiled earnings that beat Wall Street’s consensus estimate.
The company’s profit during its first quarter of fiscal 2018 came in at $33.1 million, or roughly 55 cents per share. The figure was lower than analysts’ projections of 57 cents per share, and below the year-ago earnings of 60 cents per share.
Revenue also missed the year-ago sales, coming in at $580.3 million. A year ago, Herman Miller brought in $598.6 million, marking a 3.1% decline.
“Our results this quarter reflect a combination of offsetting positive and negative factors. Gross margin came in near the low end of our expectations for the quarter,” said Jeff Stutz, chief financial officer.
He added that Herman Miller was hurt by a product mix shift that resulted in some imbalances which saw the company’s spending go up
MLHR shares slipped 2.7% after the bell.
Tesla Inc (TSLA)
Tesla revealed that it is working towards building an AI chip.
The electric car maker is building on top of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) intellectual property to develop an AI chip that can handle the company’s autonomous driving features.
The first version of this chip has been completed by Tesla and is currently being tested on some of its vehicles. Back in April, CEO Elon Musk said the company is two years away from rolling out self-driving cars.
More than 50 people are working towards developing the chip, including Jim Keller, head of Tesla Autopilot hardware and software. Some AMD veterans have also been brought on board, including director Ganesh Venkataramanan, principal hardware engineer Bill McGee and system circuit design lead Dan Bailey.
TSLA shares gained a fraction of a percentage after hours, while AMD stock surged 6.8%.
As of this writing, Karl Utermohlen did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
