ICON Public Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

ICON Public (NAS: ICLR) reported earnings on March 6. Here are the numbers you need to know.

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

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


Margins increased across the board.

Revenue details
 ICON Public booked revenue of $300.2 million. The 11 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for net sales of $292.0 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 24% higher than the prior-year quarter's $242.6 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 $0.34. The 12 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.33 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.34 for Q4 were 386% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.07 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.35 for Q4 were 483% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.06 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 36.0%, 120 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 8.1%, 540 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 6.9%, 520 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $301.0 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.34.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.27 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.53.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 344 members out of 354 rating the stock outperform, and 10 members rating it underperform. Among 99 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 97 give ICON Public a green thumbs-up, and two give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on ICON Public is outperform, with an average price target of $28.69.

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The article ICON Public 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 owns shares of ICON plc (ADR). 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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