Agilent Technologies Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Agilent Technologies (NYS: A) reported earnings on May 14. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended April 30 (Q2), Agilent Technologies beat slightly on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

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


Gross margins dropped, operating margins expanded, net margins grew.

Revenue details
 Agilent Technologies booked revenue of $1.73 billion. The 13 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for a top line of $1.71 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 3.3% higher than the prior-year quarter's $1.68 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 $0.78. The 12 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.73 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.72 for Q2 were 29% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.56 per share.

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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 53.0%, 70 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 17.3%, 160 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 14.7%, 280 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.77 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.83.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $6.96 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.20.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 507 members out of 574 rating the stock outperform, and 67 members rating it underperform. Among 130 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 122 give Agilent Technologies a green thumbs-up, and eight give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Agilent Technologies is outperform, with an average price target of $51.62.

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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