Is there anything more yawn-inspiring than the furniture industry? Aunt Edna's vacation snapshots, perhaps, but from boring industries can come great investment opportunities, as evidenced by a quick peek at the chart for my narrow "put your butt here" index.
Stanley Furniture (NASDAQ:STLY) is trouncing the Standard & Poor's 500, along with Hidden Gems pick Hooker Furniture (NASDAQ:HOFT) and dark horse Bassett Furniture (NASDAQ:BSET).
Stanley is up 10% today following the good news in yesterday's Q2 earnings announcement. There's so much, it's tough to know where to begin. The top line (as good a place as any) grew 15%, to $71 million. The bottom line ballooned 51% to $0.80 per share. That's the kind of thing all investors like to see.
How did it do it? The firm scraped up a nice 2.1% increase in gross margins and also dropped selling, general, and administrative expenses by 0.2%. Factor in smaller interest payments than last year, and you end up with that fat reward for shareholders.
But that's not all. The firm has also been buying back stock and has used a $4 million chunk of its respectable free cash flow to pay down long-term debt. It has used another bit to pay investors a near 1% dividend. That's probably not enough to get the firm on Mathew Emmert's dividend radar, but it's a decent bonus for the faithful.
Full-year guidance for earnings around $3 per share represents almost 30% growth. Given a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of 19 and management's strong record, Stanley's shares may be worth even more than the going price.
Want to learn how to find these kinds of stocks before the market does?
- Learn to love the cash flow.
- Seven simple steps for digging up gems.
- Think you're cleverer than the next guy? Timing trades can mean timing your own beating.
Fool contributor Seth Jayson scrounges most of his furniture from relatives' basements and from the sidewalk on trash day. He has no position in any company mentioned. View his Fool profile here.
