How the Wheels Came Off Woodward's Bus

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Woodward (NAS: WWD) reported earnings on Jan. 23. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q1), Woodward missed on revenues and whiffed on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew, and earnings per share increased significantly.

Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
Woodward booked revenue of $408 million. The seven analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw sales of $422 million. Sales were 12% higher than the prior-year quarter's $365 million

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

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.40. The eight earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.45 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.40 for Q1 were 25% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.32 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 30.3%, 180 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 11.4%, 70 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 7.0%, 90 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $470 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.56.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.9 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.29.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 549 members out of 562 rating the stock outperform, and 13 members rating it underperform. Among 147 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 144 give Woodward a green thumbs-up, and three give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Woodward is buy, with an average price target of $47.57.

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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