On Sept. 20, Progress Software
- Earnings per share were nearly 43% better than in the year-ago quarter, despite a mild case of dilutitis? I'd take it, especially because the cash flow figures look even better.
- It appears that Progress has paid off almost all of its debt and strengthened its cash balance, making for a squeaky-clean balance sheet.
- This company reminds me of Tibco Software
(NASDAQ:TIBX) : award-winning middleware products with a market cap of less than $1.5 billion, with plenty of growth behind it and even more ahead. - And if you thought Tibco was obscure, Progress takes the prize for toiling away in anonymity -- Progress has one-third the average trading volume of Tibco, one-third as many analysts, and one-eighth as many CAPS ratings. But it's a five-star stock versus Tibco's three. It feels like Progress deserves some more love buzz, folks. Click on over to CAPS and pitch in right away.
(Figures are in millions, except per-share data.)
Income Statement Highlights
Q3 2007 |
Q3 2006 |
Change |
|
---|---|---|---|
Sales |
$121.8 |
$111.4 |
9.4% |
Net Profit |
$13.0 |
$8.9 |
47.1% |
EPS |
$0.30 |
$0.21 |
42.9% |
Diluted Shares |
44.2 |
42.9 |
2.9% |
Get back to basics with the income statement.
Margin Checkup
Q3 2007 |
Q3 2006 |
Change* |
|
---|---|---|---|
Gross Margin |
82.3% |
82.6% |
(0.3) |
Operating Margin |
14.6% |
11.0% |
3.7 |
Net Margin |
10.7% |
8.0% |
2.7 |
Margins are the earnings engine.
Balance Sheet Highlights
Assets |
Q3 2007 |
Q3 2006 |
Change |
---|---|---|---|
Cash + ST Invest. |
$307 |
$237 |
29.5% |
Accounts Rec. |
$76.1 |
$67.2 |
13.2% |
Liabilities |
Q3 2007 |
Q3 2006 |
Change |
---|---|---|---|
Current Liabilities |
$79.8 |
$76.0 |
5.0% |
Long-Term Debt |
$0.0 |
$1.7 |
N/A |
The balance sheet reflects the company's health.
Cash Flow Highlights
Q3 2007 |
Q3 2006 |
Change |
|
---|---|---|---|
Cash From Ops. |
$34.8 |
$15.7 |
121.1% |
Capital Expenditures |
$5.0 |
$3.1 |
59.1% |
Free Cash Flow |
$29.8 |
$12.6 |
136.6% |
Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.
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