Canon Posts Large Earnings Increase for 1st Quarter
- By Graham Griffin
Consumer electronics and medical systems manufacturer Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ) posted a significant year-over-year earnings gain for the first quarter on Monday.
The company reported net sales of 842.65 billion yen ($7.79 billion), a 7.7% increase compared to the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share of 42.51 yen jumped 105.5% compared to the first quarter of 2020 at 20.69 yen.
Canon (NYSE:CAJ) noted in its quarterly report that demand for office multifunctional devices showed a moderate recovery throughout the first quarter. Demand for laser printers rose compared to the previous year and inkjet printers saw a jump in home use in both developed and emerging countries as people worked from home.
For the company's printing business strong sales of the imageRUNNER and ADVANCE DX series led the charge for the increase in sales. However, unit sales were down as a whole as the recovery in demand has not reached pre-pandemic levels.
The imaging business unit saw sales rise 24% year over year on the back of increased unit sales of interchangeable-lens digital cameras alongside strengthening sales of software for diversified applications. This software, alongside network cameras, was increasingly utilized in monitoring congested and confined spaces during the pandemic on top of its traditional crime prevention uses.
On the medical business side of Canon's profits, government subsidies drove increased sales to medical institutions. Sales of computed tomography (CT) systems also increased in both Europe and the U.S. Overall income before taxes increased 184.2% year over year to 11.7 billion yen.
On April 26, the stock was trading at $25.29 per share with a market cap of $26.45 billion. According to the GF Value Line, the shares are trading at a fair value rating.
Top shareholders of Canon include First Trust Advisors LP (Trades, Portfolio), Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC (Trades, Portfolio) and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio)' Renaissance Technologies.
Disclosure: Author owns on stocks mentioned.
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