Friday, March 23, 2012

Best Wall St. Stocks Today: GRMN

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) is feeling some of the secular trends that many have feared.� All those free and bundled GPS and personal navigation services on smartphones are taking away from its model.� The company reported earnings of $0.70 EPS as revenue fell by 11% to $692 million.� Thomson Reuters had consensus estimates of $0.75 EPS and revenues of $730.3 million.

To add insult to injury, Garmin lowered guidance.� For 2010 it sees $2.70 to $2.90 EPS and revenues of $2.65 to $2.75 billion versus Thomson Reuters estimates of $2.98 EPS and revenues of $2.88 billion.� Gross margin was put at 49% to 50%.

As you guessed it would, that smartphone they offered for navigation was a flop.� It continued to see significant losses in the mobile handset division.

The contraction is coming from its automotive sector, which fell by a whopping 19%.� Its other segments are growing as outdoor/fitness rose 9%, aviation rose 4% and marine rose 1%.� Asia grew by 54% but North America fell 18%.� Total units shipped fell 1% to 3.8 million units.� Gross margin fell 2 full points to 50% in the latest quarter, while operating margin in the third quarter was 24%.

There are some mixed numbers here, but the core business is likely to face continued challenges as many of the same services that the car-based Garmin offers are now free or can be bundled cheaply on many smartphones.

The real verdict comes from the stock reaction.� Shares are down over 8% in reaction at $30.24 this morning versus a 52-week trading range of $26.11 to $40.47.

JON C. OGG

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