iRobot (IRBT) Beats on Q1 Earnings, Ups Revenue Projection
iRobot Corporation IRBT reported better-than-expected results for first-quarter 2021. Its earnings surpassed estimates by 583.33%, whereas sales beat the same by 15.94%.
Its adjusted earnings were 41 cents per share in the quarter, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 6 cents. Also, the bottom line improved from a loss of 32 cents recorded in the year-ago quarter on the back of healthy sales generation and improvement in operating margin.
Revenue Details
The company generated revenues of $303.3 million in the quarter, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $262 million. On a year-over-year basis, quarterly revenues increased 57.5%, driven by healthy demand for products.
Sales generated from the e-commerce platform (representing 56% of the quarter’s revenues) increased 90% year over year. Notably, the e-commerce platform includes online sources of retailers, the company’s app and website, and e-commerce websites. In addition, direct sales to consumers expanded 146% year over year to $35 million and represented 11.5% of the quarter’s revenues.
Total product units of 1,088 thousand shipped in the quarter reflected a year-over-year increase of 50.9%, while average selling prices grew 1.3%. For vacuum products, revenues of $270 million reflected growth of 58.8% from the year-ago quarter. Units shipped were 971 thousand, up 55.4% from the year-ago quarter. Further, revenues from mopping products increased 43.5% to $33 million. Units shipped were 117 thousand, up from 96 thousand recorded in the first quarter of 2020.
On a geographical basis, the company sourced 37.8% of revenues from domestic operations, the rest came from the international arena. Domestic revenues totaled $114.8 million, reflecting a 40% increase from the year-ago quarter. International revenues grew 70.5% to $188.5 million. International operations gained from a 53% revenue increase in Japan and a 74% rise in EMEA sales.
Margin Profile
In the quarter under review, iRobot’s non-GAAP costs of revenues increased 58% year over year to $179.7 million, representing 59.3% of revenues compared with 59.1% in the year-ago quarter. Non-GAAP gross profit in the quarter grew 56.8% year over year to $123.5 million, while adjusted gross margin decreased 20 basis points to 40.7%.
Research and development expenses were $41.9 million, up 14% year over year. This accounted for 13.8% of revenues compared with 19.1% in the year-ago quarter. Selling and marketing expenses increased 39.3% to $51 million. As a percentage of revenues, it reflected 16.8% in the quarter compared with 19% in the prior-year quarter. General and administrative expenses were $23.4 million, down 4.6% year over year. The figure mirrored 7.7% of the total revenue base compared with 12.8% in the year-earlier quarter.
In the quarter, the company recorded adjusted operating earnings of $15 million as compared with an operating loss of $14.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted operating margin was 4.6%, higher than (7.5%) in the year-ago quarter.
Notably, tariff costs related to Section 301 totaled $3.4 million in the quarter, down from $6.6 million in the year-ago quarter. Its impact on gross and operating margin was an adverse 1.1% versus 3.4% in the year-ago quarter.
Balance Sheet and Cash Flow
Exiting first-quarter 2021, iRobot had cash and cash equivalents of $500.8 million, increasing 15.7% from $432.6 million recorded at the end of first-quarter 2020. Total long-term liabilities were $70 million, down 9.9% sequentially.
In the reported quarter, the company generated net cash of $28.7 million from its operating activities, down 29.6% from the year-ago quarter. Capital used for purchasing property and equipment totaled $11.3 million, increasing 54.2% year over year.
In the quarter under review, the company refrained from repurchasing its shares.
Outlook
For 2021, iRobot increased its revenues expectation to $1.67-$1.71 billion from $1.635-$1.675 billion mentioned earlier.
Non-GAAP gross profit is expected to be $645-$675 million (versus $665-$695 million stated previously) and non-GAAP operating income is expected to be $110-$120 million (maintained). The company expects freight, raw material and transportation costs to inflate in the year. Costs related to the tighter availability of semiconductors will also add to the concerns.
The company reiterated its non-GAAP earnings projection at $3.00-$3.25 per share.
iRobot Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
iRobot Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | iRobot Corporation Quote
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
The company currently has a market capitalization of $3.2 billion and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Industrial Products sector are Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. AIT, Dover Corporation DOV and Graco Inc. GGG. All the companies presently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
In the past 60 days, earnings estimates for these companies improved for the current year. Further, earnings surprise for the last reported quarter was 35.64% for Applied Industrial, 23.13% for Dover and 16.00% for Graco.
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