Mueller Industries Whiffs on Revenues

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Mueller Industries (NYS: MLI) reported earnings on Feb. 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Mueller Industries whiffed on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

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

Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
Mueller Industries reported revenue of $491.4 million. The one analyst polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted sales of $588.3 million. Sales were 6.7% lower than the prior-year quarter's $526.9 million.

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

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.34. The two earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.34 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.34 for Q4 were 28% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.47 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 12.9%, 30 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 4.3%, 100 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 2.6%, 80 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $780.4 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.34.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.60 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.83.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 155 members rating the stock outperform and 10 members rating it underperform. Among 61 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 60 give Mueller Industries a green thumbs-up, and one give it a red thumbs-down.

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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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