Cognizant Doubles BuyBack

Cognizant Technologies (CTSH - Analyst Report) recently expanded its existing share repurchase program by $300 million thereby bringing the total authorization under the current repurchase program to $600 million.

On May 26, 2011, the Board of Directors authorized the expansion of the company’s existing share repurchase program by $150 million, bringing the total authorization under the repurchase program to $300 million. The Board also extended the expiration date for the repurchase program to June 30, 2012. 

During the second quarter, Cognizant repurchased 1.3 million shares at an average price of $73.93 for a total cost of $96.1 million. Within this program, Cognizant had repurchased over 2.9 million shares at a cost of $215 million. 

Cash generation continues to be strong at Cognizant.

Earlier, Cognizant reported strong results for the second quarter of 2011. 

Cognizant reported revenues of $1.485 billion in the second quarter of 2011, up 34.4% from $1.105 billion in the second quarter of 201, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate and management's expectation of at least $1.45 billion. 

Net income came in at $208.0 million or $0.67 per diluted share compared to a net income of $172.2 million or $0.56 per diluted share in the year-ago quarter and a net income of $208.3 million or $0.67 per share in the previous quarter. This easily beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.66. Operating margin came in at 18.2%, down from 19.4% in the previous quarter.  

Cognizant ended the quarter with cash and investments of $2.3 billion. Going forward, management expects revenues of at least $1.57 billion in the third quarter of 2011. EPS is projected at $0.70. 

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