Salix Pharmaceuticals Beats Up on Analysts Yet Again

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Salix Pharmaceuticals (NAS: SLXP) filed its 10-K on Feb. 28. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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

Margins improved across the board.

Revenue details
Salix Pharmaceuticals notched revenue of $155.2 million. The 17 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for revenue of $152.5 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 31% higher than the prior-year quarter's $118.5 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
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $1.18. The 16 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.94 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.55 for Q4 were 49% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.37 per share.

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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 82.3%, 530 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 33.2%, 130 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 21.6%, 90 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $166.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.55.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $743.1 million. The average EPS estimate is $2.57.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 116 members out of 139 rating the stock outperform, and 23 members rating it underperform. Among 48 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 42 give Salix Pharmaceuticals a green thumbs-up, and six give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Salix Pharmaceuticals is outperform, with an average price target of $51.88.

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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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