The Gory Details of Cubist Pharmaceuticals' Earnings Miss

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Cubist Pharmaceuticals (NAS: CBST) reported earnings on Jan. 19. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Cubist Pharmaceuticals beat expectations on revenue and whiffed on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue improved significantly, and earnings per share shrank.

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Cubist Pharmaceuticals notched revenue of $213 million. The 12 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected a top line of $205 million. Sales were 32% higher than the prior-year quarter's $162 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.11. The two earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.31 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.11 for Q4 were 13% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.13 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 77.0%, 100 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 27.8%, 160 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 3.2%, 580 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $202 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.35.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $869 million. The average EPS estimate is $1.85.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 314 members out of 330 rating the stock outperform, and 17 members rating it underperform. Among 97 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 93 give Cubist Pharmaceuticals a green thumbs-up, and four give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Cubist Pharmaceuticals is outperform, with an average price target of $45.13.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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