Universal Forest Products Beats Expectations but Takes a Step Back Anyway

Universal Forest Products (Nasdaq: UFPI  ) reported earnings on Feb. 15. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Universal Forest Products beat expectations on revenue and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded and GAAP earnings per share.

Gross margins dropped, operating margin improved, and net margin contracted.

Revenue details
Universal Forest Products booked revenue of $422.0 million. The four analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for revenue of $375.9 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 11% higher than the prior-year quarter's $378.7 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.00. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated -$0.05 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS were -$0.09 for Q4 against $0.00 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 11.2%, 100 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 0.4%, 90 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -0.4%, 40 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $407.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.03.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.95 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.34.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 83 members out of 106 rating the stock outperform, and 23 members rating it underperform. Among 38 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 31 give Universal Forest Products a green thumbs-up, and seven give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Universal Forest Products is hold, with an average price target of $31.00.

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