Nordson Corp. NDSN shares rose nearly 2% in the aftermarket Monday after the adhesive maker reported fiscal second-quarter sales above Wall Street expectations and guided for stronger sales later in its fiscal year. Nordson earned $128 million, or $2.21 a share, in the quarter, compared with $110 million, or $1.88 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted for one-time items, Nordson earned $2.26 a share. Sales rose 2% to $650 million, the company said. Analysts polled by FactSet expected the company to report adjusted earnings of $2.47 a share on sales of $639 million. Nordson said that its diversification helped its business in the quarter. “Solid growth in our industrials, consumer non-durable and medical interventional solutions product lines helped offset the sales decrease in our products serving the semiconductor and the biopharmaceutical-end markets,” the company said. Fiscal fourth-quarter sales are likely to be “the strongest of the year,” Nordson said, while third-quarter sales will likely be “comparable to the prior year.” The company kept its full-year revenue growth guidance of flat growth to an increase of 3% over a “record” fiscal 2022, and narrowed its adjusted earnings guidance to the range between $8.90 a share and $9.30 a share. Nordson joined the S&P 500 index SPX in February 2022.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.