Lucent Technologies Inc reported first-quarter results that blew away Wall Street expectations. The communications equipment giant posted first-quarter net income – before one-time items – of $1.12bn, or $1.72 per share, when the First Call consensus was only $1.52. Revenue for the quarter rose 9.9% to $8.72bn. Including a one-time acquisition charge of $427m from the Livingston Enterprises purchase and a one-time gain of $95m from the sale of the advanced Technology Systems business, net income slipped 7.8% to $792m, or $1.21 per share. Network systems sales grew 18.2% to $5.94bn, led by switching and wireless systems and related software. Microelectronics revenue rose 15.5% to $775m and business communications systems saw 11.94% growth to $1.93bn on the back of a healthy messaging systems business. Gross margins for the quarter rose to 48.2% from 45.9% a year ago, while selling, general and administrative expenses declined slightly to 17.8% of revenues. Another boost to the superb bottom line was a decrease in the company’s tax rate from 38.6% to 36%. Lucent shares responded to the news by jumping $5.5625 to close at $81.
