General Cable Goes Negative

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

General Cable (NYS: BGC) reported earnings on April 30. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended March 29 (Q1), General Cable missed estimates on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

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


Gross margins were steady, operating margins dropped, net margins contracted.

Revenue details
 General Cable booked revenue of $1.53 billion. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $1.58 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 7.0% higher than the prior-year quarter's $1.43 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 $0.23. The six earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.25 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.23 for Q1 were 52% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.48 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.94 for Q1 against $0.45 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 10.1%, much about the same as the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 2.1%, 140 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -3.0%, 460 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.75 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.78.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $6.88 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.66.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 608 members out of 635 rating the stock outperform, and 27 members rating it underperform. Among 144 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 139 give General Cable a green thumbs-up, and five give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on General Cable is buy, with an average price target of $38.90.

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The article General Cable 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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