Image: Manhattan Associates.
Businesses around the world have to deal with the challenges of figuring out how to get the raw materials it needs in order to make their products, as well as how to distribute those products to market once they're made. To help those businesses, Manhattan Associates (MANH 0.96%) makes hardware and software products aimed at simplifying supply chain management and making it easier and more efficient to get materials and goods to where they're needed. Coming into Manhattan Associates' second-quarter financial report on Tuesday afternoon, investors were optimistic about the company's progress, and the logistics specialist delivered a quarter of record results. Let's take a closer look at how Manhattan Associates has done lately and what's next for the company going forward.
Manhattan Associates keeps reaching new records
Manhattan Associates has made a habit of setting new records in its financial results lately, and this quarter continued that trend. Record sales of $139.1 million climbed more than 13.5% from last year's second quarter, and those gains in revenue easily eclipsed the 10.5% growth rate that investors were looking to see. Similarly, Manhattan Associates weighed in with net income of $26 million, and after making some revisions for equity-based compensation and other extraordinary items, adjusted earnings of $0.37 per share were $0.04 ahead of the consensus estimate and also represented a new record for the company.
Looking more closely at the company's results, Manhattan Associates enjoyed growth from all of its sources of business. As we've seen in recent quarters, Manhattan's Services division saw the fastest growth, with the segment seeing gains of nearly 15%. Hardware sales climbed at a more modest 9%, and Software Licensing revenue picked up almost 10% from the year-ago quarter. The licensing business carries much higher margins than services, with hardware having extremely thin margins but still representing an essential component of Manhattan Associates' overall business proposition.
Manhattan Associates also had impressive achievements on the sales front. The company earned more than $1 million in licensing revenue from four separate contracts during the quarter, and it also brought in some new customers that include grocery chain Hy-Vee and IEH Auto Parts. Manhattan Associates also expanded relationships with a wide number of existing customers, including Toys "R" Us and Thomas Cook Airlines.
CEO Eddie Capel was pleased with Manhattan Associates' progress. "Demand for our omni-channel, store and distribution management solutions is strong," Capel said, "as we continue to lead with product innovation to enhance our market leadership position throughout 2015 and beyond." With its emphasis on making it easier to enable commerce throughout the supply chain, Manhattan is well-poised to keep delivering solid results in the future.
Can Manhattan Associates keep climbing?
The optimism about Manhattan Associates' prospects showed itself in the company's guidance for 2015, which it once again updated favorably. On the revenue side, Manhattan now expects growth of 12% to 13%, with sales in a range of $553 million to $558 million. That's up between $8 million and $12 million from the previous range, reflecting greater certainty about the sustainability of its efforts to boost its top line. Similar good news on earnings was even more impressive, with Manhattan now looking for adjusted earnings-per-share growth of between 20% and 22% from 2014 levels. The new range of $1.40 to $1.42 per share is up $0.06 from the previous guidance.
Yet one area where the company has seen only middling success is in its international business. Revenue from the Americas has climbed impressively in recent quarters, but the trend has moved away from the Asia-Pacific region, and Europe's contribution to overall operating income has remained relatively small. If the company can start tapping more global opportunities, it could be the key to faster growth at Manhattan Associates.
Investors in Manhattan Associates responded favorably to the news, with the shares climbing another 2% in the first hour of after-market trading following the announcement. With the stock already having more than doubled in less than a year, Manhattan will need to keep producing impressive results like these to sustain further share-price gains in the future. For now, though, the business looks solid, and investors should be pleased with Manhattan's fundamental performance.
