Business briefs
Cranberry-based Evoqua moving HQ to Downtown
Water treatment company Evoqua Water Technologies is moving its headquarters from Cranberry to the K&L Gates Center on Sixth Avenue, Downtown. About 200 of the company’s employees will occupy about 60,000 square feet of space on three floors in the building, located at 210 Sixth Ave. Evoqua said the transaction is the largest new lease in Pittsburgh’s central business district in three years. The move will occur by the end of this month.
Allegheny Tech earnings beat analysts’ estimates
Allegheny Technologies reported better than expected second-quarter results, buoyed by stronger sales to the aerospace market. The Pittsburgh-based specialty metals producer reported net income of $10.1 million, or 9 cents per share, vs. a loss of $18.8 million, or 18 cents per share, in the yearago quarter. Sales rose 9 percent to $880.2 million. Analysts had forecast earnings of 6 cents per share on sales of $875 million. The company also announced a long-term agreement with jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney that is expected to generate more than $1 billion in revenue between 2017 and 2030.
Wabtec earnings disappoint
Wabtec Corp. reported lower-thanexpected second-quarter earnings of $72 million, or 75 cents per share. That’s compared to a net income of $90 million, or $1 per share for the same quarter a year ago. The company reported sales of $932 million, up 29 percent from $723 million from the year-ago-quarter. The Wilmerding company’s quarterly earnings per share fell short of the 94 cents expected by analysts. Ray Belter, president and CEO, said the company will “cut costs and manage aggressively” to get through “difficult times.” Wabtec revised expectations down for the year, estimating sales will reach $3.85 billion with adjusted earnings between $3.55 and $3.70 per share.
Duolingo raises another $25M
East Liberty-based language learning app Duolingo said a fifth
round of funding has netted $25 million and brought the company’s total valuation to $700 million and total funding to $108.3 million. Columbus, Ohio-based Drive Capital led the Series E funding round, calling Duolingo the “handsdown market leader in language education” in a release. The venture capital firm recently invested in Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Clinc, an artificial intelligence platform for financial services, and College Park, Md.-based Immuta, a data privacy company. Drive Capital also invested in NoWait prior to its Yelp acquisition.
Covestro income soars
Covestro said second-quarter net income surged by more than 100 percent on strong demand and higher prices for its plastic materials used in automobiles and other consumer products. Global sales rose by 17 percent to 3.5 billion euros ($4 billion) with sales in North America generating 878 million euros. The North American headquarters of Germany-based Covestro is in Robinson and employs about 750. Global net income was 484 million euros, up 110 percent over 230 million a year ago. Bayer, which spun out Covestro in 2015 as an independent subsidiary, currently owns a 45 percent stake.
New director at U.S. Steel
U.S. Steel named Gene B. Sperling, an economic adviser for former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, to its board of directors.