Charting Plum Creek Timber's Latest Earnings Release

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Plum Creek Timber (NYS: PCL) reported earnings on Jan. 30. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Plum Creek Timber beat expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped, and GAAP earnings per share contracted.

Gross margins improved, operating margins contracted, net margins expanded.

Revenue details
Plum Creek Timber booked revenue of $315.0 million. The six analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $305.3 million. Sales were 12% lower than the prior-year quarter's $356.0 million.

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

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.38. The 11 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.39 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.38 for Q4 were 5.6% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.36 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 35.6%, 160 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 26.3%, 70 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 19.4%, 280 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $279.1 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.26.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.22 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.35.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 740 members out of 787 rating the stock outperform, and 47 members rating it underperform. Among 251 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 238 give Plum Creek Timber a green thumbs-up, and 13 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Plum Creek Timber is hold, with an average price target of $39.38.

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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. The Motley Fool owns shares of Plum Creek Timber. The Fool owns shares of and has created a covered strangle position on Plum Creek Timber. 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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