As a long-term investor, I don't typically place much weight on short-term fluctuations for any given stock. But occasionally, those moves are so drastic they just beg for a deeper look to ensure it hasn't changed that stock's investment thesis.
Case in point: As of this writing, "Internet of Things" pure play Sierra Wireless (SWIR) has skyrocketed 43% since the start of November.
Sierra Wireless, (SWIR) data by YCharts.
So, what happened between then and now to merit such an incredible jump? Look no further than Sierra Wireless' stellar third-quarter results, which kicked things off with a massive 25% single-day pop after demonstrating broad strength across nearly all business fronts.
In short, quarterly revenue jumped 27.6% year over year to $143.3 million, while adjusted net earnings more than doubled to $7.7 million, or $0.24 per share. Wall Street was only looking for sales and earnings of $138.8 million and $0.13 per share, respectively.
One short-term "weakness"
Breaking things down further, note Sierra Wireless' top-line outperformance was led by a 29.7% increase in OEM solutions and 15.4% growth in Enterprise Solutions. As fellow Fool Alex Planes pointed out, that modest Enterprise growth could technically be considered Sierra Wireless' only "weakness" during the quarter.
But considering Enterprise revenue also tends to come with significantly higher margins than its bread-and-butter OEM segment, that only makes Sierra Wireless' bottom line beat that much more impressive. What's more, as OEMs increasingly choose Sierra Wireless' market-leading machine-to-machine communications solutions, don't be surprised if slower-to-adopt enterprise clients ultimately follow suit down the road.
In the meantime, Sierra Wireless told investors to expect current quarter revenue to be in the range of $145 million to $148 million, with adjusted earnings per share of $0.25 to $0.28. The mid-point of both ranges was well ahead of Wall Street's view, which had called for revenue of $142.4 million, and earnings $0.17 per share. Unsurprisingly, analysts have ratcheted up their models since then, on average now calling for revenue of $146.33 million, and earnings of $0.26 per share.
Massive long-term opportunities
Perhaps even more exciting, however, is that Sierra Wireless has benefited greatly from both its recent acquisitions of In Motion Technology (completed this past March for $21 million) and the M2M embedded module and modem portfolio of AnyDATA (completed in October, 2013). Putting aside the revenue contributions of these two acquisitions, Sierra Wireless' organic growth last quarter came in at a still-solid 18.8%. But note this organic growth alone would have brought revenue to within $5 million of analysts' expectations in Q3.
However, that impressive performance notwithstanding, investors can safely expect Sierra Wireless to announce more acquisitions in the near future. "While executing operationally," stated Sierra Wireless CEO Jason Cohenour, "we will continue to pursue acquisitions that help accelerate our growth and enhance our strategic position."
And make no mistake: Sierra Wireless has the resources to do so. After capital expenditures of $2.3 million, Sierra Wireless generated free cash flow of $26.4 million last quarter, and so boosted its cash balance to more than $196 million.
So, where does that leave investors today? Sierra Wireless doesn't exactly look "cheap." Shares have nearly doubled over the past year and currently trade at a lofty 37 times next year's estimated earnings. At the same time, however, Sierra Wireless has only recently achieved profitability, generates plenty of cash, is expected to grow earnings at or above that forward P/E clip given its five-year PEG ratio of 0.78, and is poised to enjoy an incredibly massive -- albeit hard-to-quantify -- addressable market in the "Internet of Things."
All things considered, and even given its incredible recent rally, that's why I think Sierra Wireless still has plenty of room to run for investors looking long-term.
