Kirby Crushes Earnings Estimates

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Kirby (NYS: KEX) reported earnings on Jan. 30. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Kirby beat slightly on revenues and crushed expectations on earnings per share.

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


Margins expanded across the board.

Revenue details
 Kirby reported revenue of $512.6 million. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted sales of $504.4 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 6.8% lower than the prior-year quarter's $550.1 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 $1.12. The 12 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.86 per share. GAAP EPS of $1.03 for Q4 were 3.0% higher than the prior-year quarter's $1.00 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 34.8%, 200 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 19.4%, 310 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 11.3%, 110 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $540.0 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.96.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.26 billion. The average EPS estimate is $4.13.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 181 members out of 191 rating the stock outperform, and 10 members rating it underperform. Among 54 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 52 give Kirby a green thumbs-up, and two give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Kirby is outperform, with an average price target of $65.69.

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The article Kirby 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 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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