ASEI Sees Right Through You: Fool by Numbers

On Feb. 9, Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation American Science and Engineering (Nasdaq: ASEI  ) released third-quarter earnings for the period ended Dec. 31.

• Revenue for this maker of x-ray and screening security systems shot up 24% to $47.7 million, thanks to increases across all product lines.
• EPS decreased by 9.5% to $0.86 per share. That included a $0.21 per share charge for stock-options expensing.
• The stock garners a top five-star rating in Motley Fool CAPS.

(Figures in thousands, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q3 2007	Q3 2006	Change
Sales	$47,797	$38,540	24.0%
Net Profit	$8,072	$9,668	(16.5%)
EPS	$0.86	$0.95	(9.5%)
Diluted Shares	9,346	9,321	0.3%

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q3 2007	Q3 2006	Change*
Gross Margin	45.9%	50.3%	(4.4)
Operating Margin	26.3%	32.8%	(6.5)
Net Margin	16.9%	25.1%	(8.2)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q3 2007	Q3 2006	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$120,390	$75,317	59.8%
Accounts Rec.	$35,226	$24,834	41.8%
Inventory	$18,790	$15,670	19.9%

Liabilities	Q3 2007	Q3 2006	Change
Accounts Payable	$7,827	$5,141	52.2%
Long-Term Debt	$9,027	$9,630	(6.3%)

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

	2007	2006	Change
Cash From Ops.	$24,822	$35,780	(30.6%)
Capital Expenditures	$3,379	$7,468	(54.8%)
Free Cash Flow	$21,443	$28,312	(24.3%)

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Companies:

• Robbins & Myers (NYSE: RBN  )
• Columbus McKinnon (Nasdaq: CMCO  )
• OSI Systems (Nasdaq: OSIS  )
• Eaton (NYSE: ETN  )
• Mueller Industries (NYSE: MLI  )

Related Foolishness:

• The Best Small Cap for 2007: American Science & Engineering
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• Good Eaton?

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. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.