Hitting or missing analyst estimates isn't necessarily a make-or-break situation for a publicly traded company. This was illustrated sharply by robot vacuum cleaner manufacturer iRobot (IRBT -4.77%) on Wednesday, following the publication of its second-quarter earnings release. Bullish investors pushed the company's share price up in afternoon trading, and toward the end of the session they had gained almost 7%. The sputtering S&P 500 index, meanwhile, was trading down by nearly 0.4%.
Lower revenue, deeper adjusted net loss
iRobot's revenue fell to just over $166 million in the period from nearly $237 in the same period of 2023. Also heading in an unfavorable direction was the company's non-GAAP (adjusted) bottom-line loss, which deepened to $57.5 million ($1.96 per share) from the year-ago deficit of $39.3 million.
Even for the troubled iRobot, analysts were expecting better. Collectively, they believed the company would post revenue of slightly more than $169 million, accompanied by an adjusted net loss of $1.77 per share.
In its earnings release, iRobot attributed its performance to a clutch of different factors, including a "challenging consumer spending environment," the impact of foreign currency movements, and increasing competition.
Upside surprise on quarterly earnings guidance
iRobot proffered guidance for both its current (third) quarter and full year 2024; this provided the ray of sunshine that so impressed the market on Wednesday. The company is forecasting revenue of $217 million to $223 million for the quarter, with adjusted net loss coming in at $0.01 to $0.11 per share -- much narrower numbers than the second-quarter loss, and well better than the average analyst estimate of a $0.28 shortfall.
As for the full year, management is guiding for revenue of $765 million to $800 million, and adjusted loss per share of $3.31 to $3.77.
