Pitney Bowes Misses on Revenues but Beats on EPS

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Pitney Bowes (NYS: PBI) reported earnings on May 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


Margins improved across the board.

Revenue details
Pitney Bowes booked revenue of $1.26 billion. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected revenue of $1.29 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 5.1% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.32 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 $0.52. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.50 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.79 for Q1 were 88% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.42 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 50.0%, 70 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 14.8%, 60 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 12.6%, 610 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.28 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.51.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $5.24 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.11.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 265 members out of 314 rating the stock outperform, and 49 members rating it underperform. Among 85 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 75 give Pitney Bowes a green thumbs-up, and 10 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Pitney Bowes is hold, with an average price target of $19.75.

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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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