TIBCO Tumbles: Fool by Numbers

On Sept. 27, middleware maker TIBCO Software (Nasdaq: TIBX  ) released third-quarter earnings for the period ended Sept. 2.

• Hot on the heels of a disappointing second-quarter report, the third-quarter installment isn't much better.
• This is the slimmest gross-margin performance we've seen from TIBCO since the spring of 2005, and the weakest net income margin of the past four years.
• But all is not gloom and doom: The company spent around $84 million on repurchasing its own stock this quarter. Together with the $101 million buyback in the previous quarter, it's the largest six-month buyback in company history.
• In our Motley Fool CAPS community, TIBCO is a three-star stock with a four-star history, much like rivals BEA Systems (Nasdaq: BEAS  ) and IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) . Other competitors, including Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL  ) and DST Systems (NYSE: DST  ) , fare better than that today.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q3 2007	Q3 2006	Change
Sales	$135	$120	12.2%
Net Profit	$4.6	$11.3	(58.8%)
EPS	$0.02	$0.05	(60.0%)
Diluted Shares	200.1	214.5	(6.7%)

Get back to basics with the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q3 2007	Q3 2006	Change*
	69.4%	72.2%	(2.8)
	2.1%	10.5%	(8.3)
	3.4%	9.3%	(5.9)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q3 2007	Q3 2006	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$224	$521	(57.1%)
Accounts Rec.	$115	$93.3	23.0%

Liabilities	Q3 2007	Q3 2006	Change
Accounts Payable	$8.6	$10.5	(18.0%)
Long-Term Debt	$47.3	$48.8	(3.2%)

The balance sheet reflects the company's health.

Cash Flow Highlights

	Q3 2007	Q3 2006	Change
Cash From Ops.	$19.3	$48.1	(59.8%)
Capital Expenditures	$3.4	$3.5	(2.8%)
Free Cash Flow	$15.9	$44.5	(64.3%)
Owner Earnings	$13.4	$15.5	(13.6%)

Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.

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