Sprint Nextel Beats Up on Analysts

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Sprint Nextel (NYS: S) reported earnings on April 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Sprint Nextel met expectations on revenues and exceeded expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased and GAAP loss per share expanded.


Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
 Sprint Nextel notched revenue of $8.73 billion. The 23 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted a top line of $8.72 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 5.1% higher than the prior-year quarter's $8.31 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 -$0.35. The 15 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted -$0.39 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS were -$0.29 for Q1 compared to -$0.15 per share for 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 41.8%, 530 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -2.9%, 600 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -9.9%, 460 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $8.72 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.37.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $35.18 billion. The average EPS estimate is -$1.33.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,972 members out of 2,430 rating the stock outperform, and 458 members rating it underperform. Among 408 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 297 give Sprint Nextel a green thumbs-up, and 111 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Sprint Nextel is hold, with an average price target of $3.67.

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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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