What happened
Shares of Lantronix (LTRX -1.67%), a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, were sliding today after the company reported worse-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings for the period ended June 30 and issued earnings guidance that was lower than Wall Street's consensus estimate.
The SaaS stock was down by 19.2% as of 11:29 a.m. ET.
So what
Lantronix's sales spiked 79% from the year-ago quarter, to $35.9 million. That sales growth was enough to beat analysts' consensus estimate of $34 million in sales for the quarter.
Image source: Getty Images.
The company said in a press release that "while supply chain dynamics remain challenging," Lantronix's fiscal 2023 sales will increase by 20%, at the midpoint of guidance, which would equate to about $156 million. That's ahead of Wall Street's consensus estimate of $151.3 million.
But investors looked past the company's top-line results and revenue guidance and were disappointed that Lantronix's earnings missed Wall Street's expectations.
The company's fourth-quarter non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $0.08 were up from earnings of $0.06 in the year-ago quarter but fell short of analysts' average estimate of $0.09.
Lantronix's earnings guidance didn't help matters much either. The company's management said that 2023 non-GAAP earnings will be in the range of $0.39 to $0.44, up nearly 26% at the midpoint, but that range fell far below analysts' average estimate of $0.50.
Now what
Technology investors found it easier to overlook an earnings miss or lower-than-expected guidance in the recent past. But not any longer.
Investors are scrutinizing companies' bottom-line results as inflation persists at a 40-year high and the Federal Reserve continues to hike interest rates.
Based on the company's stock performance today, it appears that Lantronix isn't growing its bottom line as quickly as its shareholders had hoped.
