On July 27, Canon (NYSE:CAJ) released second-quarter earnings for the period ending June 30, 2006. Numbers below are U.S. dollar year-over-year comparisons. Some highlights:

  • Local currency sales, operating income, and net income grew 12.8%, 32.6%, and 28.8% respectively.
  • There were continued margin improvements.
  • The first half saw strong free cash flow growth, but forecasted capital expenditures will curtail that growth in the second half.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

Avg. Est.

Q2 2006

Q2 2005

Change

Sales

$0

$8,948

$8,221

8.8%

Net Profit

--

$921

$741

24.3%

EPS

$0.00

$1.04

$0.83

25.3%

Diluted Shares

888

888

0.0%

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

Margin Checkup

Q2 2006

Q2 2005

Change*

Gross Margin

49.58%

48.26%

1.32

Operating Margin

16.36%

13.91%

2.45

Net Margin

10.29%

9.01%

1.28

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q2 2006

Q2 2005

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$9,266

$8,457

9.6%

Accounts Rec.

$5,545

$4,893

13.3%

Inventory

$4,639

$4,385

5.8%

Liabilities

Q2 2006

Q2 2005

Change

Accounts Payable

$4,187

$3,946

6.1%

Long-Term Debt

$141

$226

(37.7%)



Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

YTD 2006

YTD 2005

Change

Cash From Ops.

$2,816

$2,324

21.2%

Capital Expenditures

$1,814

$1,568

15.7%

Free Cash Flow

$1,002

$756

32.6%

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Companies:

  • Sony (NYSE:SNE)
  • Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ)
  • Matsushita Electric Industrial (NYSE:MC)
  • NEC (NASDAQ:NIPNY)
  • Xerox (NYSE:XRX)
  • Lexmark (NYSE:LXK)

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 checkFool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean.

At the time of publication,Nathan Parmelee had a position in Canon but no positions in any of the other companies mentioned. Fool rules are here.