CF Industries Outruns Estimates Again

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

CF Industries Holdings (NYS: CF) reported earnings on May 3. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
 CF Industries Holdings reported revenue of $1.53 billion. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for sales of $1.24 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 30% higher than the prior-year quarter's $1.17 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
 EPS came in at $6.06. The 16 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $4.87 per share. GAAP EPS of $5.54 for Q1 were 42% higher than the prior-year quarter's $3.91 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 46.6%, 190 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 42.9%, 100 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 24.1%, 10 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.84 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $8.02.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $5.86 billion. The average EPS estimate is $23.70.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,191 members out of 1,235 rating the stock outperform, and 44 members rating it underperform. Among 261 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 252 give CF Industries 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 CF Industries Holdings is outperform, with an average price target of $207.51.

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. The Motley Fool owns shares of CF Industries 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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