Shareholders Like What These 2 Companies Just Told Them

Stocks were mixed on Thursday. The dominance of the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 2.02%) gave way to some hesitation as investors wondered if the tech sector had risen too far too quickly. However, strong gains for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.40%) and a solid advance for the S&P 500 (^GSPC 1.02%) kept the tone positive on Wall Street.

Data source: Yahoo! Finance.

Earnings season isn't due to start for another couple of weeks, but some companies are still reporting their financial results based on irregular fiscal years.

Accolade (ACCD -14.15%) and Smart Global Holdings (SGH -0.81%) aren't household names for most investors, but the latest financial reports from the two companies still provide a considerable amount of information both about the businesses themselves and conditions more broadly in their respective industries. Here's what Accolade and Smart Global had to say.

Accolades for Accolade

Shares of Accolade jumped 18% in after-hours trading late Thursday. The provider of healthcare information services reported fiscal first-quarter results for the period ended May 31, and investors generally liked what they saw from the company.

Even in tough conditions, Accolade managed to keep itself moving in the right direction. Revenue was up 9% year over year to $93.2 million. The company narrowed its net losses by nearly 90% from year-ago levels, posting a loss of $38.4 million for the period.

Accolade made particular note of the advances that it's seeing in virtual primary care, which helps improve the patient experience compared to the current siloed approach that most people face as they navigate managed-care options.

CEO Rajeev Singh is excited at the possibility of delivering better health outcomes and achieving more customer satisfaction by getting various healthcare professionals more closely connected to allow more useful collaboration.

Management's guidance was also well received. Revenue projections of between $93 million and $95 million for the fiscal second quarter and between $410 million and $414 million for the full 2024 fiscal year were promising, and shareholders particularly like the prospects for Accolade to come close to breaking even on the basis of adjusted pre-tax operating earnings.

Smart Global moves ahead

Gains for Smart Global Holdings were more modest, as the stock rose 2% in after-hours trading. The designer of semiconductors for cloud computing, memory, and LED lighting reported its fiscal third-quarter financial results for the period ended May 26, and investors felt some relief that the numbers held up as well as they did, even under industry pressure.

Smart Global's financial results weren't pretty. Sales plunged 17% year over year to $383 million, led by a huge drop in memory-solutions revenue that offset gains in the intelligent platform solutions segment. LED segment results were also poor, detracting from overall performance.

Smart Global's bottom line swung to a loss, reversing year-earlier gains. After accounting for extraordinary items, however, adjusted gross margin improved, and adjusted earnings of $0.66 per share were down less severely from the year-ago $0.87 per share in profit.

CEO Mark Adams set out Smart Global's overall strategy, with the intent to become a high-performance enterprise solutions company. In particular, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and data analytics will become focus areas, hopefully prompting further growth.

For the fiscal fourth quarter, Smart Global hopes to see sales of $350 million to $400 million, with adjusted earnings of between $0.30 and $0.60 per share. With the stock having seen a recent climb because of its AI exposure, the company now has to demonstrate its connection to high-growth trends in the quarters to come.