Equity Residential Beats on EPS but GAAP Results Lag

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Equity Residential (NYS: EQR) reported earnings on Feb. 1. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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

Gross margins expanded, operating margins improved, and net margins dropped.

Revenue details
Equity Residential tallied revenue of $519.3 million. The 14 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see sales of $520.3 million. Sales were 10% higher than the prior-year quarter's $515.2 million.

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

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.33. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.14 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.33 for Q4 were 49% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.65 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 65.5%, 470 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 31.2%, 560 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 19.7%, 2,050 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $527.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.42.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.18 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.94.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a one-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 136 members out of 252 rating the stock outperform, and 116 members rating it underperform. Among 102 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 61 give Equity Residential a green thumbs-up, and 41 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Equity Residential is hold, with an average price target of $58.57.

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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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