AES Outruns Estimates Again

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

AES (NYS: AES) reported earnings on Feb. 27. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


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

Revenue details
 AES reported revenue of $4.64 billion. The two analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw revenue of $3.86 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 11% higher than the prior-year quarter's $4.16 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 $0.32. The seven earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.31 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.32 for Q4 were 39% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.23 per share. (The prior-year quarter included -$0.49 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.) GAAP EPS were $0.24 for Q4 against -$0.27 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 18.3%, 890 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 16.6%, 800 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 3.8%, 880 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $5.23 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.35.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $18.54 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.28.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 503 members out of 535 rating the stock outperform, and 32 members rating it underperform. Among 120 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 116 give AES 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 AES is outperform, with an average price target of $13.06.

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The article AES Outruns Estimates Again 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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