What happened
Shares of Littelfuse (LFUS 0.54%) jumped on Wednesday after the circuit-protection product provider reported its third-quarter results. While the company came up short of analyst estimates for revenue, strong earnings growth was enough to push up the stock. Littelfuse stock was up about 10.1% at 11:05 a.m. EDT.
So what
Littelfuse reported third-quarter revenue of $439.2 million, up 38% year over year but about $2.4 million below the average analyst estimate. Most of that sales growth came from acquisitions, but organic revenue still registered an 8% increase.
Image source: Littelfuse.
Electronics sales were up 12% organically; automotive sales rose 1% organically; and industrial sales jumped 10% organically. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $2.49, up 17% year over year and $0.09 better than analysts were expecting.
"During the quarter, we continued to capture design wins across a broad range of transportation, telecom and industrial electronics end markets, and we remain on track with the integration of the IXYS business," said Littelfuse CEO Dave Heinzmann. Littelfuse completed the acquisition of IXYS Corp. in January, and it expects to achieve about $30 million of annualized cost savings within two years.
Now what
Littelfuse expects fourth-quarter revenue between $408 million and $420 million, up 36% at the midpoint compared to the prior-year period and up 6% on an organic basis. Non-GAAP EPS is expected to be between $1.92 and $2.06, up 10% year over year at the midpoint.
The fourth quarter will be seasonally weak for Littelfuse, but the company's guidance still calls for solid year-over-year growth. With strong organic sales growth and double-digit earnings growth, investors had plenty of reasons to bid up the stock.
