United Stationers Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

United Stationers (NAS: USTR) reported earnings on April 23. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), United Stationers beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

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


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
United Stationers reported revenue of $1.27 billion. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw revenue of $1.24 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 2.8% higher than the prior-year quarter's $1.24 billion.

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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 $0.45. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.42 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.36 for Q1 were 18% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.44 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 14.2%, 50 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 2.5%, 80 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 1.2%, 50 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.27 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.60.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $5.11 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.63.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 53 members out of 59 rating the stock outperform, and six members rating it underperform. Among 22 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 20 give United Stationers a green thumbs-up, and two give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on United Stationers is outperform, with an average price target of $35.33.

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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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