Stillwater Mining Beats Estimates But Has a Big Earnings Drop

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Stillwater Mining (NYS: SWC) reported earnings on Feb. 27. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Stillwater Mining missed estimates on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

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


Gross margins grew, operating margins increased, net margins contracted.

Revenue details
 Stillwater Mining chalked up revenue of $203.4 million. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted a top line of $217.7 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 22% lower than the prior-year quarter's $259.7 million.

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 $0.13. The five earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.07 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.13 for Q4 were 38% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.21 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 23.5%, 200 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 9.6%, 150 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 8.3%, 120 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $232.8 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.07.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $912.6 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.49.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 625 members out of 674 rating the stock outperform, and 49 members rating it underperform. Among 137 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 124 give Stillwater Mining a green thumbs-up, and 13 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Stillwater Mining is outperform, with an average price target of $13.76.

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The article Stillwater Mining Beats Estimates But Has a Big Earnings Drop 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 position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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