Carriage Services Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Updated

Carriage Services (NYS: CSV) reported earnings on Feb. 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


Gross margins were steady, operating margins increased, net margins expanded.

Revenue details
Carriage Services reported revenue of $53.3 million. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for revenue of $52.7 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 12% higher than the prior-year quarter's $47.8 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 $0.24. The three earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.23 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.24 for Q4 were 118% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.11 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.20 for Q4 were much higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.01 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 31.7%, much about the same as the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 17.8%, 130 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 6.9%, 630 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $57.1 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.33.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $222.0 million. The average EPS estimate is $1.05.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 108 members out of 117 rating the stock outperform, and nine members rating it underperform. Among 27 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 26 give Carriage Services a green thumbs-up, and one give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Carriage Services is outperform, with an average price target of $13.83.

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The article Carriage Services 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 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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