Fool Checkup: Viacom Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Viacom (NAS: VIAB) reported earnings on Jan. 31. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q1), Viacom missed estimates on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

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


Gross margins grew, operating margins dropped, net margins expanded.

Revenue details
 Viacom booked revenue of $3.31 billion. The 27 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see sales of $3.48 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 16% lower than the prior-year quarter's $3.95 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 $0.91. The 30 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.91 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.92 for Q1 were 142% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.38 per share. (The prior-year quarter included -$0.68 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.)

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 46.8%, 210 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 24.0%, 170 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 14.2%, 880 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $3.27 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.99.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $13.99 billion. The average EPS estimate is $4.69.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 134 members out of 146 rating the stock outperform, and 12 members rating it underperform. Among 64 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 60 give Viacom a green thumbs-up, and four give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Viacom is outperform, with an average price target of $57.45.

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The article Fool Checkup: Viacom Earnings 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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