Agrium Beats on the Top Line

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Agrium (NYS: AGU) reported earnings yesterday. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Agrium tallied revenue of $3.63 billion. The 14 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for sales of $2.96 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 23% higher than the prior-year quarter's $2.95 billion.

anImage
anImage

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 $1.03. The 18 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $1.01 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.97 for Q1 were 11% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.09 per share. (The prior-year quarter included $0.07 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.)

anImage
anImage

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 22.0%, 250 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 6.6%, 90 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 4.2%, 160 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $6.29 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $4.68.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $15.74 billion. The average EPS estimate is $9.36.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,739 members rating the stock outperform and 43 members rating it underperform. Among 351 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 341 give Agrium 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 Agrium is outperform, with an average price target of $99.24.

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.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Advertisement