Shares of Ubiquiti Networks (UI -1.16%) stock fell more than 16% in late trading after reporting worse-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results this evening. Here's a closer look at the final totals versus Wall Street's projections:
Consensus estimate |
$158.78 million |
22.4% |
$0.53 |
15.2% |
Q1 actuals |
$150.1 million |
15.7% |
$0.48 |
4.3% |
DIFFERENCE |
($8.68 million) |
(6.7%) |
($0.05) |
(10.9%) |
"We continue to ramp our R&D investments to accelerate our long-term technology vision for our service provider and enterprise platforms and we expect to have several significant technology introductions in fiscal year 2015," said founder and CEO Robert Pera in a press release.
What went right: Almost nothing, if you look at the financial statements. Still, it's worth noting that Ubiquiti ended the quarter with more than $391 million in cash versus just $72 million in debt. The company appears to have more-than-enough cash to fund its new dividend, which was yielding 0.50% annually as of the close. Meanwhile, Ubiquiti has signed distribution deals with ECS and Redington to bring more of its communications products to China and India, respectively.
What went wrong: Almost everything. Revenue decelerated further, a bad sign after heady growth in 2013. Big investments in R&D -- up 85% year over year -- helps to explain the lighter EPS, but lower sales coupled with higher inventory could become a serious problem if demand doesn't pick up soon. (Despite a 16.4% sequential decline, inventory still more than doubled year-over-year.) Cash from operations also declined -- to $46.9 million from $51.9 million in last year's first quarter.
What's next: Looking ahead, Ubiquiti Networks is projecting between $147 million and $153 million in revenue, resulting in $0.46 to $0.49 in adjusted per-share earnings. (Ubiquiti, like most tech companies, excludes the cost of stock options and similar non-cash charges in its EPS estimates.)
Analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ were hoping for a much better forecast: $164.02 million in revenue and $0.55 per share.. Tomorrow could bring a slew of ratings adjustments and lower price targets.