ViroPharma Goes Negative

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

ViroPharma (NAS: VPHM) reported earnings on Feb. 27. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped significantly. Non-GAAP earnings per share dropped significantly. GAAP earnings per share contracted to a loss.


Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
 ViroPharma reported revenue of $106.5 million. The 13 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for net sales of $102.8 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 27% lower than the prior-year quarter's $145.6 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 $0.10. The seven earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.12 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.10 for Q4 were 81% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.52 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.06 for Q4 against $0.65 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 74.8%, much worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -1.9%, much worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -3.7%, much worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $107.4 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.15.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $466.5 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.72.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,195 members out of 1,236 rating the stock outperform, and 41 members rating it underperform. Among 325 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 317 give ViroPharma a green thumbs-up, and eight give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on ViroPharma is outperform, with an average price target of $32.81.

The article ViroPharma Goes Negative 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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