Solazyme Misses on the Top and Bottom Lines

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Solazyme (NAS: SZYM) reported earnings on Feb. 20. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Solazyme missed estimates on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue shrank significantly. Non-GAAP loss per share grew. GAAP loss per share increased.


Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
 Solazyme tallied revenue of $8.4 million. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw revenue of $8.9 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 43% lower than the prior-year quarter's $14.9 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 -$0.35. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted -$0.31 per share. Non-GAAP EPS were -$0.35 for Q4 versus -$0.26 per share for the prior-year quarter. GAAP EPS were -$0.40 for Q4 against -$0.26 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 83.3%, 1,110 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -296.5%, 19,110 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -292.1%, 18,750 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $13.1 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.30.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $79.8 million. The average EPS estimate is -$1.15.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 368 members out of 386 rating the stock outperform, and 18 members rating it underperform. Among 85 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 78 give Solazyme a green thumbs-up, and seven give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Solazyme is outperform, with an average price target of $17.08.

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The article Solazyme Misses on the 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 owns shares of Solazyme. 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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