NeuStar Crushes Earnings Estimates

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

NeuStar (NYS: NSR) reported earnings on Nov. 5. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


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

Revenue details
 NeuStar reported revenue of $211.2 million. The 13 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated revenue of $210.0 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 38% higher than the prior-year quarter's $152.5 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 $0.90. The 12 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.72 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.68 for Q3 were 33% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.51 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 78.1%, 50 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 35.3%, 280 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 21.7%, 310 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $214.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.75.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $830.7 million. The average EPS estimate is $2.85.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 254 members out of 267 rating the stock outperform, and 13 members rating it underperform. Among 80 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 75 give NeuStar a green thumbs-up, and five give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on NeuStar is outperform, with an average price target of $43.64.

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The article NeuStar Crushes Earnings Estimates 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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