Foster Wheeler Whiffs on Revenues

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Foster Wheeler (NAS: FWLT) reported earnings on March 1. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Foster Wheeler whiffed on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped significantly. Non-GAAP earnings per share contracted significantly. GAAP earnings per share shrank significantly.


Gross margins expanded, operating margins increased, net margins shrank.

Revenue details
 Foster Wheeler recorded revenue of $735.3 million. The 11 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $981.7 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 35% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.13 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 $0.27. The 13 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.46 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.27 for Q4 were 31% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.39 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.06 for Q4 were 82% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.34 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 19.7%, 620 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 7.0%, 250 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 0.9%, 260 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.00 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.44.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $4.26 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.03.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,631 members out of 1,681 rating the stock outperform, and 50 members rating it underperform. Among 369 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 360 give Foster Wheeler 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 Foster Wheeler is outperform, with an average price target of $29.43.

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The article Foster Wheeler Whiffs on Revenues 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 has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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