MEMC Electronic Materials Outruns Estimates Again

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

MEMC Electronic Materials (NYS: WFR) reported earnings on Nov. 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue shrank significantly and GAAP earnings per share grew. The non-GAAP profit was a surprise, as analysts had predicted a loss.


Margins increased across the board.

Revenue details
 MEMC Electronic Materials reported revenue of $708.9 million. The 15 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for revenue of $508.0 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 17% higher than the prior-year quarter's $516.2 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 $0.30. The 17 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated -$0.12 per share. GAAP EPS were $0.16 for Q3 versus -$0.41 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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 14.4%, 300 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 0.1%, 930 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 6.2%, 2,450 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $739.0 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.09.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.68 billion. The average EPS estimate is -$0.18.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,801 members out of 1,870 rating the stock outperform, and 69 members rating it underperform. Among 361 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 341 give MEMC Electronic Materials a green thumbs-up, and 20 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on MEMC Electronic Materials is hold, with an average price target of $4.40.

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The article MEMC Electronic Materials Outruns Estimates Again 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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Originally published