Agilent Sells 40 Acres Adjacent to Headquarters for $270 Mil

SAN JOSE-Agilent Technologies says it has unloaded a 40-acre parcel of surplus land adjacent its headquarters for a pre-tax gain of about $270 million. The parcel is part of a 125-acre property of which 55 acres is home to the San Jose-based company’s current headquarters. The remaining 30 acres is being retained for future expansion.

The test and measurement equipment maker did not return phone calls Tuesday seeking further details, including the name of the buyer. Officials may have been too busy answering questions about its lowered earnings expectations, which came out with the company’s first quarter earnings release Tuesday morning.

Compared to last year’s first quarter, earnings rose 18% for the quarter ended Jan. 13, 2000, beating Wall Street’s expectations by a penny. The company reported net earnings of $154 million, or 33 cents a share, up from year-ago totals of $131 million, or 30 cents per share. Revenue was up 26% from a year ago to $2.84 billion.