On March 8, oven maker Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) released fourth-quarter earnings for the period ended Dec. 30.

  • The market liked the results, sending the stock up 11%.
  • Acquisitions accounted for slightly more than half of sales growth.
  • Management is optimistic about new products in the pipeline that will focus on speedy cooking, energy savings, and automation.
  • This Motley Fool Hidden Gems recommendation scores a top-of-the-line five-star rating in Motley Fool CAPS.

(Figures in thousands, except per-share data.)

Income Statement Highlights

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change

Sales

$98,294

$76,930

27.8%

Net Profit

$11,059

$7,233

52.9%

EPS

$1.34

$0.88

52.3%

Diluted Shares

8,263

8,193

0.9%



Get back to basics with the income statement.

Margin Checkup

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change*

Gross Margin

39.7%

38.4%

1.4

Operating Margin

20.8%

17.4%

3.5

Net Margin

11.3%

9.4%

1.9

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$3,534

$3,908

(9.6%)

Accounts Rec.

$51,580

$38,552

33.8%

Inventory

$47,292

$40,989

15.4%



Liabilities

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change

Accounts Payable

$19,689

$17,576

12.0%

Long-Term Debt

$65,964

$107,815

(38.8%)



The balance sheet reflects the company's health.

Cash Flow Highlights

The one big negative with Middleby is we still get no cash flow statement with earnings. Bummer.

Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.

Related Foolishness:

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.

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