MSC Industrial Direct's Earnings Beat Last Year's by 22%

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

MSC Industrial Direct (NYS: MSM) reported earnings on April 4. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Feb. 25 (Q2), MSC Industrial Direct beat slightly on revenue and met expectations on earnings per share.

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


Gross margin dropped, operating margin increased, and net margin grew.

Revenue details
MSC Industrial Direct reported revenue of $563.0 million. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see revenue of $554.7 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 16% higher than the prior-year quarter's $483.4 million.

anImage
anImage

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 $0.95. The 12 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.95 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.95 for Q2 were 22% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.78 per share.

anImage
anImage

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 46.1%, 70 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 17.3%, 60 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 10.7%, 40 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $617.6 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.11.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.34 billion. The average EPS estimate is $4.10.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 469 members out of 480 rating the stock outperform, and 11 members rating it underperform. Among 213 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 210 give MSC Industrial Direct a green thumbs-up, and three give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on MSC Industrial Direct is outperform, with an average price target of $82.00.

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. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of MSC Industrial Direct. 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.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Advertisement