The Gory Details on Morningstar's Double Fumble

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Morningstar (NAS: MORN) reported earnings on May 2. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
Morningstar recorded revenue of $151.8 million. The one analyst polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $160.5 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 5.9% higher than the prior-year quarter's $151.8 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 $0.44. The one earnings estimate compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.46 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.40 for Q1 were 9.1% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.44 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 68.7%, 450 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 18.9%, 420 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 12.5%, 230 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 986 members out of 1,014 rating the stock outperform, and 28 members rating it underperform. Among 414 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 408 give Morningstar a green thumbs-up, and six give it a red thumbs-down.

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. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Morningstar. 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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