Total System Services Beats Estimates Yet Again

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Total System Services (NYS: TSS) reported earnings on Jan. 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Total System Services beat expectations on revenues and earnings per share.

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

Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
Total System Services logged revenue of $472 million. The 14 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected revenue of $463 million. Sales were 7.3% higher than the prior-year quarter's $440 million.

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

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.31. The 23 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.31 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.31 for Q4 were 30% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.24 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 31.6%, 310 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 19.0%, 340 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 12.7%, 200 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $438 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.29.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.8 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.27.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 177 members out of 195 rating the stock outperform, and 18 members rating it underperform. Among 59 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 57 give Total System Services a green thumbs-up, and two give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Total System Services is hold, with an average price target of $20.24.

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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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