On May 24, Stein Mart (NASDAQ:SMRT) released first-quarter earnings for the period ended May 5.

  • Despite the current challenging retail environment, earnings managed to increase $8.1 million, or 7.3%, from 2006.
  • Poor weather created a significant shortfall in April sales, leaving the company behind in its spring plan with sales increased by a modest 3.1%.
  • SG&A expenses rose from the lack of leverage on negative comparable sales.
  • The gross margin saw improvement from increased markups and decreased markdowns.
  • Stein Mart is a two-star stock (out of a possible five) in Motley Fool CAPS. 

(Figures in millions, except per-share data.)

Income Statement Highlights

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Sales

$376.1

$364.8

3.1%

Net Profit

$8.1

$7.6

7.3%

EPS

$0.18

$0.17

5.9%

Diluted Shares

43.9

44.1

(0.4%)

Get back to basics with the income statement.

Margin Checkup

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change*

Gross Margin

27.9%

26.7%

1.1

Operating Margin

0.9%

0.9%

0.0

Net Margin

2.2%

2.1%

0.1

*Expressed in percentage points

Margins are the earnings engine.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$23.5

$58.6

(59.9%)

Accounts Rec.

$10.2

$11.5

(11.3%)

Inventory

$308.3

$287.6

  7.2%

Liabilities

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Accounts Payable

$91.6

$125.2

(26.8%)

The balance sheet reflects the company's health.

Cash Flow Highlights

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Cash from Ops

($3.1)

$16.4

N/A

Capital Expenditures

$5.3

$13.0

(59.4%)

Free Cash Flow

($8.4)

$3.4

N/A

Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.

Related Foolishness:

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.

At the time of publication, Fool contributor Mike Cianciolo held no position in Stein Mart. The Fool has a disclosure policy.