On Feb. 5, cardiovascular treatment company Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) released fourth-quarter earnings for the period ended Dec. 31.

  • Fourth-quarter net sales increased by 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year, mainly because of low double-digit growth out of the company's critical care segment.
  • The company plans to achieve sales near $1.1 billion and earnings per share in the range of $0.55 to $0.57 for fiscal 2007.
  • Edwards Lifesciences has a lowly two-star rating in CAPS, the Fool's stock-rating service.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change

Sales

$265.6

$249.7

6.4%

Net Profit

$20.7

$38.6

(46.4%)

EPS

$0.34

$0.61

(44.3%)

Diluted Shares

60.4

64.9

(6.9%)



Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change*

Gross Margin

63.3%

64.1%

(0.8)

Operating Margin

9.1%

18.0%

(8.9)

Net Margin

7.8%

15.5%

(7.7)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$182.8

$178.6

2.4%

Accounts Rec.

$127.1

$118.5

7.3%

Inventory

$142.1

$131.5

8.1%


Liabilities

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change

Accounts Payable*

$226.2

$194.2

16.5%

Long-Term Debt

$235.9

$316.1

(25.4%)

*Includes accrued liabilities.

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change

Cash From Ops.

$70.0

$44.3

58.0%

Capital Expenditures

$17.4

$21.9

(20.5%)

Free Cash Flow

$52.6

$22.4

134.8%



Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Companies:

  • Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG)
  • Kinetic Concepts (NYSE:KCI)
  • Respironics (NASDAQ:RESP)
  • Hologic (NASDAQ:HOLX)
  • Sirona Dental Systems (NASDAQ:SIRO)

Related Foolishness:

Intuitive Surgical is a Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation. To find out why, you can take a 30-day free trial of the growth-stock newsletter.

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.