MEMC Electronic Materials Beats on the Top Line

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

MEMC Electronic Materials (NYS: WFR) reported earnings on May 9. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

Compared with the prior-year quarter, revenue shrank significantly and GAAP loss per share grew.


Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
MEMC Electronic Materials recorded revenue of $523.8 million. The 16 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected to see revenue of $496.1 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 29% lower than the prior-year quarter's $735.9 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 -$0.26. The 21 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged -$0.16 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.40 for Q1 against -$0.02 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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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 10.9%, 580 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -9.3%, 1,240 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -17.7%, 1,710 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $679.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.01.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.74 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.09.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,833 members out of 1,902 rating the stock outperform, and 70 members rating it underperform. Among 380 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 363 give MEMC Electronic Materials a green thumbs-up, and 17 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on MEMC Electronic Materials is hold, with an average price target of $6.08.

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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. He is the 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 don't 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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