Cashing In on First Cash: Fool by Numbers

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On Wednesday, Jan. 24, payday lender First Cash Financial (Nasdaq: FCFS) released Q4 2006 earnings for the period ended Dec. 31, 2006.

• Revenues increased 47% to $88 million.
• Net income was up 26% to $9.7 million, or $0.30 per share.
• Nine new locations were opened in the quarter for each of its three segments -- payday loans, pawnshops, and buy-here/pay-here auto dealerships.
• First Cash Financial has a four-star rating at Motley Fool CAPS.

(Figures in thousands, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Avg. Est.	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Sales	$85,850	$88,175	$60,141	46.6%
Net Profit	--	$9,692	$7,721	25.5%
EPS	$0.30	$0.30	$0.20	50.0%
Diluted Shares	--	32,785	33,174	(1.2%)

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

Margin Checkup

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change*
Gross Margin	55.57%	61.59%	(6.02)
Operating Margin	16.87%	19.73%	(2.86)
Net Margin	10.99%	12.84%	(1.85)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$15,535	$42,741	(63.7%)
Accounts Rec.	$74,264	$33,802	119.7%
Inventory	$28,761	$21,987	30.8%

Liabilities	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Accounts Payable	$1,535	$908	69.1%
Notes Payable	$7,188	$0	N/A

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

Strangely for a company with "cash" in its name, no cash flow statement accompanied the press release.

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Companies:

• Advance America (NYSE: AEA)
• Cash America (NYSE: CSH)
• Dollar Financial
• EZCORP
• QC Holdings

Related Foolishness:

• 2006 in Review: First Cash Financial
• Previewing 2007: First Cash Financial
• First Cash Flush With Cash
• First Cash Drives Ahead

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.

Advance America is a recommendation of Motley Fool Inside Value. A 30-day guest pass lets you see why this payday lender is a company to cash in on.

At the time of publication, Rich Duprey had no positions in any of the companies mentioned in the article. Fool rules are here.