Charting Viacom's Latest Earnings Release

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Viacom (NAS: VIAB) reported earnings on May 1. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended March 31 (Q2), Viacom missed slightly on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

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


Gross margins expanded, operating margins contracted, net margins contracted.

Revenue details
 Viacom logged revenue of $3.14 billion. The 29 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated revenue of $3.18 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 5.9% lower than the prior-year quarter's $3.33 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 $0.96. The 31 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.95 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.96 for Q2 were 2.0% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.98 per share. (The prior-year quarter included -$0.01 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.) GAAP EPS of $0.95 for Q2 were 11% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.07 per share. (The prior-year quarter included -$0.01 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.)

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 50.9%, 30 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 27.0%, 100 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 15.2%, 240 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $3.58 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.33.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $13.84 billion. The average EPS estimate is $4.68.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 136 members out of 148 rating the stock outperform, and 12 members rating it underperform. Among 63 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 59 give Viacom 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 Viacom is outperform, with an average price target of $64.34.

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The article Charting Viacom's Latest Earnings Release 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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