Fool Cheatsheet: Novellus Systems Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Novellus Systems (NAS: NVLS) reported earnings on Feb. 2. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Novellus Systems beat slightly on revenue and missed expectations on earnings per share.

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

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Novellus Systems reported revenue of $282.7 million. The 15 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see a top line of $278.3 million. Sales were 26% lower than the prior-year quarter's $384.4 million.

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

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.45. The 18 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.47 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.56 for Q4 were 37% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.89 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 46.8%, 370 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 18.2%, 500 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 13.6%, 760 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $290.4 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.55.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.24 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.93.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 142 members out of 177 rating the stock outperform, and 35 members rating it underperform. Among 64 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 57 give Novellus Systems a green thumbs-up, and seven give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Novellus Systems is hold, with an average price target of $42.45.

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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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