CalAmp Stumbles Over Earnings

September 30, 2016 by Chris Lange

CalAmp Corp. (NASDAQ: CAMP) shares tumbled on Friday after it released its fiscal second-quarter financial results late on Thursday. The company said that it had $0.27 in earnings per share (EPS) on $90.5 million in revenue. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters had called for EPS of $0.31 on $95.01 million in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $0.31 in EPS and revenue of $74.67 million.

In terms of guidance for the fiscal third-quarter, the company expects to have revenues between $81 million and $87 million and EPS in the range of $0.24 to $0.30. The consensus estimates are $0.35 in EPS on $97.88 million in revenue.

During the second quarter, the company purchased and retired roughly 580,000 shares of its common stock at an aggregate cost of $8.5 million, pursuant to a stock repurchase plan adopted in June 2016.  At the end of the quarter, the remaining authorization for additional share purchases under this plan is $16.5 million.

On the books, cash and marketable securities totaled $117 million at the end of the quarter. Net cash provided by operating activities was $11.0 million during the second quarter of fiscal 2017.

Michael Burdiek, CalAmp’s president and CEO, commented:

The company continues its rapid pace of innovation, expanding its product portfolio and leadership position in the connected vehicle marketplace.  Our pipeline of opportunities is very healthy, and we recently won two significant MRM telematics device customers who are expected to contribute to our long-term growth.  Although we have been impacted by tough macro conditions in North America, we continue to invest in market-leading telematics solutions, and we remain optimistic that we will see a pick-up in growth from CalAmp’s core businesses and new opportunities emerging through LoJack channels.

Shares of CalAmp were down more than 14% to $14.00 Friday morning, with a consensus analyst price target of $22.29 and a 52-week trading range of $13.01 to $21.35.

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