Leucadia National Crushes Earnings Estimates

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

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

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Leucadia National crushed expectations on revenue and crushed expectations on earnings per share.

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


Gross margin dropped, operating margin grew, and net margin grew.

Revenue details
Leucadia National logged revenue of $2.42 billion. The one analyst polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $227.0 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were much higher than the prior-year quarter's $204.4 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 $1.97. The two earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.36 per share. GAAP EPS of $1.97 for Q1 were much higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.04 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 22.7%, 2,980 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 16.0%, 300 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 20.2%, 1,510 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $237.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.38.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $774.7 million. The average EPS estimate is $1.52.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS. Among 355 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 351 give Leucadia National a green thumbs-up, and four give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Leucadia National is hold, with an average price target of $24.00.

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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