Hecla Mining Meets on the Top Line, Misses Where It Counts

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Hecla Mining (NYS: HL) reported earnings on Feb. 21. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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

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

Revenue details
Hecla Mining reported revenue of $102.9 million. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for revenue of $102.8 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 23% lower than the prior-year quarter's $134.5 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
EPS came in at $0.06. The seven earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.07 per share. GAAP EPS were $0.06 for Q4 against -$0.05 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 60.6%, 530 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 32.6%, 650 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 18.1%, 2,530 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $89.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.11.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $426.8 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.46.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,250 members out of 1,310 rating the stock outperform, and 60 members rating it underperform. Among 312 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 298 give Hecla Mining a green thumbs-up, and 14 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Hecla Mining is hold, with an average price target of $8.16.

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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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