Simcere Pharmaceutical Group Crushes Earnings Estimates

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Simcere Pharmaceutical Group (NYS: SCR) reported earnings on March 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Simcere Pharmaceutical Group missed estimates on revenue and crushed expectations on earnings per share.

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

Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
Simcere Pharmaceutical Group tallied revenue of $80.9 million. The four analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for net sales of $85.6 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 9.1% lower than the prior-year quarter's $89.1 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 $0.07. The three earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.05 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.12 for Q4 were 25% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.16 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%, 180 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 0.3%, 1,040 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 8.4%, 160 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $79.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.10.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $356.7 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.46.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 233 members out of 243 rating the stock outperform, and 10 members rating it underperform. Among 56 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 52 give Simcere Pharmaceutical Group a green thumbs-up, and four give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Simcere Pharmaceutical Group is hold, with an average price target of $9.30.

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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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