PPL Outruns Estimates Again

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

PPL (NYS: PPL) reported earnings on May 4. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
PPL logged revenue of $4.11 billion. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw sales of $3.14 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 41% higher than the prior-year quarter's $2.91 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 $0.70. The 14 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.66 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.93 for Q1 were 13% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.82 per share. (The prior-year quarter included $0.01 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.)

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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 34.2%, 310 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 25.6%, 210 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 13.2%, 60 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $2.26 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.44.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $11.21 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.33.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 388 members out of 400 rating the stock outperform, and 12 members rating it underperform. Among 82 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 82 give PPL a green thumbs-up.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on PPL is hold, with an average price target of $30.25.

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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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