Agrium Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Agrium (NYS: AGU) reported earnings on Aug. 3. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Agrium beat expectations on revenue and beat slightly on earnings per share.

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


Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
Agrium logged revenue of $6.83 billion. The 16 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted sales of $6.62 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 10% higher than the prior-year quarter's $6.20 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 $5.43. The 16 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $5.34 per share. GAAP EPS of $5.44 for Q2 were 20% higher than the prior-year quarter's $4.54 per share. (The prior-year quarter included -$0.06 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.)

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 27.4%, 40 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 17.9%, 170 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 12.6%, 100 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $3.16 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.83.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $16.40 billion. The average EPS estimate is $10.16.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,739 members out of 1,781 rating the stock outperform, and 42 members rating it underperform. Among 325 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 315 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 $100.60.

The article Agrium Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines 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. 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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