NewMarket Crushes Earnings Estimates

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

NewMarket (NYS: NEU) reported earnings on April 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


Margins improved across the board.

Revenue details
NewMarket booked revenue of $562.7 million. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted a top line of $536.1 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 11% higher than the prior-year quarter's $508.1 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
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $5.03. The five earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $3.50 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $4.96 for Q1 were 39% higher than the prior-year quarter's $3.57 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 30.1%, 240 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 18.6%, 320 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 11.8%, 200 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $578.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $4.15.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.24 billion. The average EPS estimate is $15.43.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 247 members out of 255 rating the stock outperform, and eight members rating it underperform. Among 68 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 65 give NewMarket 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 NewMarket is hold, with an average price target of $192.50.

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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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