Logitech International (LOGI -1.17%) set the stock market on fire in 2020. Shares of the computer-peripherals manufacturer more than doubled last year as demand for its products soared in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The new year has brought more good news for Logitech investors. The company's latest quarterly results blew past Wall Street estimates, encouraging it to raise its full-year guidance. If you missed Logitech's hot stock-market rally so far, there's still time to jump on to the bandwagon, as it could switch into a higher gear in 2021.
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Logitech's latest results point toward a strong 2021
Logitech's fiscal 2021 third-quarter revenue (for the three months ending on Dec. 31, 2020) shot up 80% year over year to $1.67 billion in constant-currency terms. Non-GAAP operating income jumped 214% over the prior-year period to $476 million, helping the company post adjusted earnings of $2.45 per share. This was nearly triple when compared to the prior-year period's earnings of $0.84 per share. Analysts expected Logitech to deliver earnings of $1.02 per share on revenue of $1.23 billion.
The company topped off this impressive performance with a terrific outlook. Logitech now expects revenue growth between 57% and 60% in fiscal 2021 that ends in March, up substantially from its prior forecast of 35% to 40% revenue growth. The company credits the solid quarterly showing to four trends: growth in remote work/online learning, accelerated adoption of video conferencing, esports, and digital-content creation.
Logitech recorded strong growth across all its key product lines such as gaming peripherals, keyboards, webcams, and video-collaboration products last quarter, thanks to these trends. The good part is that they'll continue to be a tailwind in 2021.
The gaming-hardware market, for instance, will continue to be a strong growth driver for Logitech this year and beyond, thanks to the growing interest in esports. The esports market has historically had a positive impact on sales of PC (personal computer) gaming hardware, as 60% of PC gamers are known to watch esports, as per DFC Intelligence.
Higher esports consumption creates more interest in video games and encourages existing gamers to buy better equipment. The esports market is reportedly clocking an annual growth rate of 24% as per a third-party estimate. This is going to rub off positively on PC gaming hardware sales that could hit $70 billion by 2023 from an estimated $40 billion last year.
Gaming accounted for just over 26% of Logitech's total sales last quarter. Revenue from this segment shot up 73% year over year to $436 million, and it won't be surprising to see this business keep up its high growth rate in the future.
Remote work is going to be another catalyst
Logitech gets a nice chunk of its revenue from selling hardware that enables remote work. Sales of pointing devices, such as mice, keyboards, and PC webcams, produced $564 million in revenue for Logitech last quarter, accounting for just over a third of total sales. The combined revenue from these three segments jumped 64% year over year.
Demand for remote workers is expected to increase substantially in 2021. A survey by Enterprise Technology Research projects that the percentage of remote workers working from home on a permanent basis could double in 2021. Another estimate points out that 70% of the workforce could be working from home for at least five days a month by 2025.
Meanwhile, the video-collaboration business that accounts for 17% of Logitech's total revenue is also benefiting from the shift toward remote work. This segment generated $293 million in revenue last quarter, more than triple when compared to the year-ago period's revenue of $92 million.
The segment is unlikely to lose its momentum anytime soon as enterprises and educational institutions are going for high-end video equipment to remain in touch with employees and students in remote locations. Global Market Insights forecasts that the video-conferencing market could clock a compound annual growth rate of more than 19% through 2026. Logitech is well-placed to take advantage of this growth as it supports some of the popular video conferencing apps available on the market.
The stock is still worth buying
Logitech stock trades at an attractive valuation despite doubling in 2020. Its trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 25.5 is almost in line with the 2020 P/E multiple of 24.6. And we've already seen that Logitech may have more upside to offer, thanks to a bunch of catalysts. All of this makes Logitech a solid growth stock one can buy right now, given its attractive valuation and fast-growing top and bottom lines.
