On Wednesday, Jan. 10, business software and services provider Sapient (NASDAQ:SAPE) released preliminary Q3 2006 earnings for the period ended Sept. 30, 2006, because of the ongoing stock-option backdating review.

  • Total revenues increased 32.3% to $111.5 million.
  • Net income was $100,000, or breakeven on a per-share basis, compared to a $6.3 million profit, $0.05-per-share gain last year.
  • Service revenues increased 33% for the quarter, but expenses jumped 44%.
  • Sapient is a two-star stock at Motley Fool CAPS.

(Figures in thousands, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

Avg. Est.

Q3 2006

Q3 2005

Change

Sales

$102,700

$111,487

$84,259

32.3%

Net Profit

--

$100

$6,310

(98.4%)

EPS

$0.05

$0.00

$0.05

N/A

Diluted Shares

--

125,232

129,992

(3.7%)



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

Margin Checkup

Q3 2006

Q3 2005

Change*

Gross Margin

32.02%

36.39%

(4.37)

Operating Margin

(1.05%)

7.30%

(8.35)

Net Margin

0.09%

7.49%

(7.40)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q3 2006

Q3 2005

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$106,642

$137,572

(22.5%)

Accounts Rec.

$88,304

$60,062

47.0%



Liabilities

Q3 2006

Q3 2005

Change

Accounts Payable

$10,997

$5,182

112.2%

Long-Term Debt

$0

$0

N/A



Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

Q3 2006

Q3 2005

Change

Cash From Ops.

$14,305

($5,178)

N/A

Capital Expenditures

$2,982

$2,114

41.1%

Free Cash Flow

$11,323

($7,292)

N/A



Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Companies:

  • Accenture (NYSE:ACN)
  • BearingPoint (NYSE:BE)
  • Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH)
  • Computer Sciences (NYSE:CSC)
  • Electronic Data Systems (NYSE:EDS)
  • MPS Group (NYSE:MPS)

Related Foolishness:

Sapient is a two-star-rated stock at Motley Fool CAPS, the new investor intelligence community. You can add your voice to the new stock-rating service by joining today. It's free!

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, Rich Duprey had no position in any of the companies mentioned in the article. Accenture is an Inside Value recommendation. Fool rules are here.