L-3 Communications Holdings Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

L-3 Communications Holdings (NYS: LLL) reported earnings on April 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended March 29 (Q1), L-3 Communications Holdings beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue shrank. Non-GAAP earnings per share was unchanged. GAAP earnings per share grew.


Gross margins shrank, operating margins shrank, net margins grew.

Revenue details
 L-3 Communications Holdings chalked up revenue of $3.19 billion. The 14 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for revenue of $3.00 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 11% lower than the prior-year quarter's $3.59 billion.

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 $2.00. The 15 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $1.93 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $2.00 for Q1 were 0.5% lower than the prior-year quarter's $2.01 per share. GAAP EPS of $2.11 for Q1 were 5.0% higher than the prior-year quarter's $2.01 per share.

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 9.8%, 50 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 9.8%, 50 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 6.1%, 50 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $3.03 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.92.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $12.51 billion. The average EPS estimate is $8.17.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 876 members out of 915 rating the stock outperform, and 39 members rating it underperform. Among 231 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 222 give L-3 Communications Holdings a green thumbs-up, and nine give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on L-3 Communications Holdings is hold, with an average price target of $78.00.

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The article L-3 Communications Holdings Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines originally appeared on Fool.com.

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. The Motley Fool owns shares of L-3 Communications Holdings. 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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