Cemex's Rock-Hard Q4: Fool by Numbers

On Jan. 29, Cemex (NYSE: CX) released fourth-quarter earnings for the period ended Dec. 31.

• Sales increased by 13% due to higher cement, ready-mix, and aggregates volumes, and better supply-demand dynamics.
• Free cash flow declined by 51% primarily because of a substantial increase in capital spending for expansion.
• In the fourth quarter, Cemex announced an offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Rinker Group (NYSE: RIN). Rinker, however, is still driving a hard bargain.
• Cemex is a Stock Advisor recommendation and carries a five-star rating in Motley Fool CAPS.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Sales	$4,473.5	$3,962.6	12.9%
Net Profit	$377.1	$243.9	54.6%
EPS	$0.52	$0.35	48.6%
Diluted Shares	729.4	704.8	3.5%

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change*
Gross Margin	32.9%	34.4%	(1.5)
Operating Margin	13.7%	12.8%	0.9
Net Margin	8.4%	6.2%	2.3

*Expressed in percentage points

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$1,578.8	$601.5	162.5%
Accounts Rec.	$1,410.7	$1,592.7	(11.4%)
Inventory	$1,193.0	$1,037.2	15.0%

Liabilities	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Accounts Payable	No Data	No Data	No Data
Net Debt	$5,811.0	$8,665.0	(32.9%)

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Cash From Ops.	$878.0	$637.0	37.8%
Capital Expenditures*	$717.0	$312.0	129.8%
Free Cash Flow	$161.0	$325.0	(50.5%)

*Includes maintenance and capital spending for expansion

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related companies:

• Lafarge (NYSE: LR)
• U.S. Concrete (Nasdaq: RMIX)
• Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP)
• Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC)

Related Foolishness:

• Cemex Wants to Mix Things Up
• Hard Bargaining for Cemex
• A Rock-Solid Investing Idea

For more stocks from the top of Tom and David Gardner's list, try a free 30-day guest pass to Motley Fool Stock Advisor.

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.