LB Foster Misses on Both Revenue and Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

LB Foster (NAS: FSTR) filed its 10-K on Thursday. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), LB Foster missed estimates on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

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

Margins expanded across the board.

Revenue details
LB Foster reported revenue of $137.4 million. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw net sales of $151.8 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 7.1% lower than the prior-year quarter's $148 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 $0.60. The three earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.66 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.60 were the same as 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 21.5%, 600 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 9.3%, 160 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 4.4%, 20 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $118.1 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.25.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $600.7 million. The average EPS estimate is $2.77.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 440 members rating the stock outperform and 26 members rating it underperform. Among 104 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 103 give LB Foster a green thumbs-up, and one gives it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on LB Foster is outperform, with an average price target of $35.67.

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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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