Cimpress NV (CMPR -2.28%) announced fiscal third-quarter 2018 results on Wednesday after the market closed, detailing the continued fruits of last year's Vistaprint restructuring and steady growth at each of its three core business segments. Still, shares of the mass customization specialist were down on Thursday in response to the news.

Let's take a closer look at what Cimpress had to say, and what investors should be watching in the coming quarters.

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IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES

Cimpress results: The raw numbers

Metric

Fiscal Q3 2018*

Fiscal Q2 2017

Year-Over-Year Change

Revenue

$636.1 million

$550.6 million

15.5%

GAAP net income (loss) attributable to Cimpress NV

($2.3 million)

($42.9 million)

N/A

GAAP earnings per diluted share

($0.07)

($1.38)

N/A

DATA SOURCE: CIMPRESS. *FOR THE QUARTER ENDED 31, 2018.

What happened with Cimpress this quarter?

  • GAAP results benefited from a $22.5 million decline in restructuring charges, $17 million in operating expense savings related to the decentralization announced in January 2017, and a $15.3 million decline in acquisition-related expenses.
  • Organic revenue (which excludes acquisitions) grew 11% year over year at constant currency.
  • By business segment:
    • Vistaprint revenue grew 10.8%, to $357.6 million.
    • Upload and print segment revenue jumped 29%, to $142.5 million.
    • National Pen revenue grew 38.6%, to $81.5 million.
    • Revenue from all other businesses declined by a third, to $18.9 million.
  • Used cash from operations of $32.1 million compared to positive cash flow from operations of $9 million in last year's fiscal Q3. The change was primarily due to expected earn-out payments related to Cimpress' acquisitions of WIRmachenDRUCK and Easyflyer.
  • Free cash flow was negative $3 million, improving from negative $21.3 million in the same year-ago period.
  • Repurchased 321,113 shares for $39.6 million during the quarter, for an average price of $123.23.

What management had to say

Cimpress CEO Robert Keane reiterated his past assertion that the company's decentralization initiatives have helped it "stay small as we get big," adding:

That change has significantly increased the accountability of each of the leaders of our businesses for key success drivers including, but not limited to, customer value improvements, the attraction and motivation of talented team members, the delivery of attractive returns on investment, and the operation of our businesses in a socially responsible manner. We also believe that Cimpress continues to strengthen our customer value propositions as a result of the many changes and investments we have made over the past six years. We believe that the capital we are allocating across our company, combined with the organizational and strategic changes we have implemented over the last year, is solidifying our competitive position and increasing our intrinsic value per share.

Looking forward

As such, Keane says, Cimpress remains on track to achieve its internal financial objectives for the full fiscal year, namely, as the company continues to work toward its long-term goal of thoughtfully investing its resources toward driving sustained, profitable growth, and maximizing its intrinsic per-share value. 

That said, shares of Cimpress had already risen nearly 70% over the past year as of yesterday's close, so it's no surprise to see the stock pulling back modestly today in the absence of any shocking positive revelations. But as long as Cimpress continues to effectively implement its strategic vision, investors should be happy with where it stands.