PotashCorp Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

PotashCorp (NYS: POT) reported earnings on July 26. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), PotashCorp missed estimates on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

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


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
PotashCorp notched revenue of $2.27 billion. The 12 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see a top line of $2.32 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 3.6% higher than the prior-year quarter's $2.19 billion.

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 $0.99. The 26 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $1.02 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.60 for Q2 were 38% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.96 per share.

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 53.2%, 10 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 47.3%, 50 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 23.0%, 1,530 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $2.24 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.85.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $8.41 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.39.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 4,725 members out of 4,895 rating the stock outperform, and 170 members rating it underperform. Among 855 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 822 give PotashCorp a green thumbs-up, and 33 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on PotashCorp is outperform, with an average price target of $53.31.

  • Add PotashCorp to My Watchlist.

The article PotashCorp Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings originally appeared on Fool.com.

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. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend PotashCorp. 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