Foster Wheeler Crushes Earnings Estimates

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Foster Wheeler (NAS: FWLT) reported earnings on Nov. 9. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
 Foster Wheeler notched revenue of $803.2 million. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected to see sales of $1.07 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 29% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.13 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 $0.56. The 14 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.44 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.54 for Q3 were 74% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.31 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 19.2%, 720 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 9.5%, 480 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 7.2%, 390 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.12 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.49.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $4.09 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.65.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,637 members out of 1,687 rating the stock outperform, and 50 members rating it underperform. Among 376 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 370 give Foster Wheeler a green thumbs-up, and six give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Foster Wheeler is outperform, with an average price target of $28.50.

The article Foster Wheeler 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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