CARBO Ceramics Beats Expectations But Takes A Step Back Anyway

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

CARBO Ceramics (NYS: CRR) reported earnings on Oct. 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Sep. 30 (Q3), CARBO Ceramics met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

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


Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
 CARBO Ceramics recorded revenue of $151.1 million. The four analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated sales of $153.4 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 9.5% lower than the prior-year quarter's $167.1 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 $1.04. The 10 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.99 per share. GAAP EPS of $1.04 for Q3 were 35% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.59 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 33.2%, 1,030 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 23.2%, 1,030 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 15.8%, 630 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $145.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.94.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $644.4 million. The average EPS estimate is $4.60.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 428 members out of 456 rating the stock outperform, and 28 members rating it underperform. Among 112 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 105 give CARBO Ceramics a green thumbs-up, and seven give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on CARBO Ceramics is hold, with an average price target of $71.86.

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The article CARBO Ceramics Beats Expectations But Takes A Step Back Anyway 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 owns shares of CARBO Ceramics. 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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