Clearwire Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Clearwire (NAS: CLWR) reported earnings on Feb. 15. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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

Margins improved across the board.

Revenue details
Clearwire reported revenue of $361.9 million. The 12 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw revenue of $356.0 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were much higher than the prior-year quarter's $180.7 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at -$0.37. The 12 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted -$0.35 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS were -$0.81 for Q4 versus -$2.01 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 20.5%, 5,280 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -84.0%, 20,100 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -65.5%, 540 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $302.8 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.39.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.20 billion. The average EPS estimate is -$1.66.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 567 members out of 683 rating the stock outperform, and 116 members rating it underperform. Among 136 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 100 give Clearwire a green thumbs-up, and 36 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Clearwire is outperform, with an average price target of $3.19.

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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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