Closing the Gap?: Fool by Numbers (GPS)

Closing the Gap?: Fool by Numbers

By Motley Fool Contributors | More Articles
March 5, 2007 | Comments (0)

On March 1, Gap (NYSE: GPS ) released fourth-quarter earnings for the period ended Feb. 3.

Total sales grew just more than 2% for the quarter, while earnings per share declined 31% during the same period.
Gap announced that Bob Fisher will act as interim president and CEO and Marka Hansen as the new president of Gap Brand.
The company announced it will close its Forth & Towne concept by the end of June 2007.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Sales	$4,930.0	$4,821.0	2.3%
Net Profit	$219.0	$337.0	(35.0%)
EPS	$0.27	$0.39	(30.8%)
Diluted Shares	817.6	870.5	(6.1%)

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

Margin Checkup

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change*
Gross Margin**	32.5%	34.0%	(1.5)
Operating Margin	7.1%	10.6%	(3.5%)
Net Margin	4.4%	7.0%	(2.6)

*Expressed in percentage points.
**Cost of goods sold includes occupancy expenses.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Cash + ST Invest. *	$2,644.0	$3,042.0	(13.1%)
Inventory	$1,796.0	$1,696.0	5.9%

*Short-term investments include restricted cash.

Liabilities	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Accounts Payable	$1,109.0	$1,132.0	(2.0%)
Long-Term Debt	$188.0	$513.0	(63.4%)

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

	2006	2005	Change
Cash From Ops.	$1,250.0	$1,551.0	(19.4%)
Capital Expenditures	$572.0	$600.0	(4.7%)
Free Cash Flow	$678.0	$951.0	(28.7%)

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Foolishness:

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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.

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