Stillwater Mining Beats on EPS but GAAP Results Lag

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Stillwater Mining (NYS: SWC) reported earnings on April 26. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
 Stillwater Mining tallied revenue of $203.1 million. The two analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw net sales of $242.3 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 19% higher than the prior-year quarter's $170.1 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
 EPS came in at $0.10. The three earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.05 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.02 for Q1 were 94% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.34 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 22.1%, 1,590 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 0.9%, 2,320 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 1.2%, 2,010 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $236.0 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.13.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $908.3 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.62.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 621 members out of 669 rating the stock outperform, and 48 members rating it underperform. Among 133 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 124 give Stillwater Mining 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 Stillwater Mining is outperform, with an average price target of $18.25.

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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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