What: Shares of CalAmp Corporation (CAMP -1.25%) were up 10.3% as of 2:12 p.m. EST Thursday after the company revised its outlooks for both the fiscal third quarter and full-year 2016. CalAmp also revealed a generous offer to move forward a large potential acquisition.
So what: Specifically on the former, CalAmp now expects fiscal Q3 revenue of $74 million to $75 million, narrowed to the high end of its previous guidance for revenue of $71 million to $76 million. CalAmp also expects Q3 GAAP earnings per share of $0.10 to $0.11, narrowed from $0.08 to $0.12 previously, and adjusted net income per share of $0.29 to $0.31, up from the old EPS guidance range of $0.26 to $0.30. Analysts, on average, were anticipating lower Q3 revenue and earnings of $73.7 million and $0.29 per share, respectively.
For the full year, CalAmp now sees revenue of $282 million to $288 million, narrowed from its previous guidance for fiscal 2016 revenue of $281 million to $289 million.
In addition, CalAmp revealed it has made an offer to acquire auto-recovery specialist LoJack Corporation (NASDAQ: LOJN) for $5.50 per share in cash, representing a massive 58% premium over LoJack's closing price yesterday. Naturally, LoJack stock is up 49% so far today as of this writing.
CalAmp CEO Michael Burdiek explained their reasons to make the offer known:
For nearly two years, we have tried to engage with LoJack in friendly discussions regarding a combination of our two companies, and in the past 14 months we have made three all-cash offers to LoJack. To our disappointment, and to the detriment of LoJack's shareholders, LoJack has not demonstrated willingness to move toward actively negotiating a transaction with us. We are excited by the prospect of combining our two businesses and believe our $5.50 per share cash offer provides LoJack shareholders with a substantial premium for their investment in LoJack, while also eliminating the risks associated with LoJack continuing to operate on a stand-alone basis
Now what: Of course, the acquisition wouldn't be entirely selfless; bringing LoJack's market-leading technology under CalAmp's wing could serve to accelerate consumer adoption of vehicle telematics -- and more specifically insurance telematics, which represents a massive, largely untapped opportunity for CalAmp.
Whether revealing its offer helps move the potential transaction forward remains to be seen. But in the meantime, CalAmp investors are right to be encouraged by their company's freshly boosted quarterly guidance. We'll hear more about what drove those results when CalAmp reports later this month, but I won't be the least bit surprised if CalAmp stock continues rising between now and then.
