51job Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Updated

51job (NAS: JOBS) reported earnings on Feb. 20. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), 51job beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

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


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
51job reported revenue of $63.7 million. The two analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see sales of $61.3 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 9.2% higher than the prior-year quarter's $55.9 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 $0.74. The two earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.66 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.74 for Q4 were 19% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.62 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.66 for Q4 were 8.2% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.61 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 70.6%, 60 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 31.4%, 40 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 32.1%, 20 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.62.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $271.9 million. The average EPS estimate is $2.68.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 379 members out of 398 rating the stock outperform, and 19 members rating it underperform. Among 114 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 109 give 51job 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 51job is buy, with an average price target of $58.06.

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The article 51job Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines 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 recommends 51job. 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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