On June 27, Herman Miller (NASDAQ:MLHR) released fourth-quarter and fiscal-year earnings for the period ended June 2.

  • Sales rose 9.3% to $485.3 million, as the company's backlog increased 20.9%, indicating continued strong sales.
  • Herman Miller's earnings improved by 26.8% to $31.7 million in the fourth quarter.
  • Herman Miller is currently rated as a three-star stock (out of a possible five) in Motley Fool CAPS. In fact, 376 of the 421 players (including 143 of 164 All-Stars) rating the company predict it will outperform the S&P 500.

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

Income Statement Highlights

Q4 2007

Q4 2006

Change

Sales

$485.3

$44438.12

9.3%

Net Profit

$31.7

$25.0

26.8%

EPS

$0.50

$0.38

31.6%

Diluted Shares

63.8

66.7

(4.4%)

Get back to basics with the income statement.

Margin Checkup

Q4 2007

Q4 2006

Change*

Gross Margin

33.6%

34.0%

(0.4)

Operating Margin

9.2%

8.4%

0.8

Net Margin

6.5%

5.6%

0.9

*Expressed in percentage points

Margins are the earnings engine.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q4 2007

Q4 2006

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$92.3

$122.0

(24.3%)

Accounts Rec.

$188.1

$173.2

8.6%

Inventory

$56.0

$47.1

18.9%

Liabilities

Q4 2007

Q4 2006

Change

Accounts Payable

$110.5

$112.3

(1.6%)

Long-Term Debt*

$3.0

$3.0

0.0%

*Net of current portion

The balance sheet reflects the company's health.

Cash Flow Highlights

Q4 2007

Q4 2006

Change

Cash from Ops

$46.3

$48.0

(3.5%)

Capital Expenditures

$12.8

$16.2

(21.0%)

Free Cash Flow

$33.5

$31.8

5.3%

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.

At the time of publication, Fool contributor Mike Cianciolo held no position in Herman Miller.