Bank technology stocks were mixed this week, as the red hot equities market lost some steam, at least temporarily.
Despite heavy volume, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered at the 4,700 level last week as investors weighed in on whether they believed the U.S. economy will improve in the latter half of this year.
Outsourcing firm Affiliated Computer Services Inc. released an upbeat earnings report for its fourth fiscal quarter, ended June 30.
Officials at Dallas-based Affiliated said net income for the quarter rose 51% from the year-earlier period, to $5.1 million, or 38 cents per share.
Wall Street analysts expected the company would earn 37 cents per share, according to First Call Corp.
Revenues for the quarter reached $89.5 million, up 27% from the corresponding period in 1994.
For the full fiscal year, Affiliated earned $17.6 million on $313 million in revenue, officials said.
"I am very pleased that we have completed our first year as a public company with record performances for both the fourth quarter and our year- end," said Darwin Deason, chairman and chief executive at Affiliated, which completed its initial public offering last September. "Our growth through the year, provided by both new sales and acquisitions, was a direct result of our commitment to provide innovative, cost-effective, and comprehensive information technology solutions on behalf of our clients."
Affiliated's common stock closed at $28.875 per share Friday, down $1.125 for the week.
Shares of another firm in the outsourcing business, Alltel Corp., rose Friday after a Wall Street analyst upgraded the stock.
CS First Boston analyst Frank Governali changed his rating of Little Rock, Ark.-based Alltel from "hold" to "buy" after the company's stock dipped below $26 share last week.
Alltel's common stock closed at $26.625 Friday, up 37.5 cents for the week.
Standard & Poor's said it will add investment administrator and trust banking systems provider SEI Corp. to its S&P Smallcap 600 listing at the close of trading Aug. 10.
Wayne, Pa.-based SEI will replace Genetic Therapy Inc. on the list, S&P said.
SEI's common stock closed Friday at $21.625 a share, up 12.5 cents for the week.
Verifone Inc., a supplier of electronic payment system solutions, announced last week the appointment of George C. Hoyem as vice president for software programs.
In this position, Hoyem will be responsible for software strategy and business planning, including the coordination of systems development, marketing, sales, and support activities throughout the company, Verifone officials said.
