Garmin Earnings Get Boost From Fitness, Aviation Revenues

Consumer Electronics

Published: October 29, 2014 10:00 am

Last Updated: October 29, 2014 10:02 am

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) reported its third-quarter results Wednesday before the market opened as $0.76 in earnings per share and $706 million in revenue. Thomson Reuters had consensus estimates of $0.71 in earnings per share and $677.35 million in revenue for the quarter. In the third quarter of the previous year, Garmin reported $0.69 in earnings per share and $643.64 million in revenue.

The company revised its guidance for the 2014 full year to $3.10 in earnings per share and $2.85 billion in revenue. The consensus estimates are $3.07 in earnings per share and revenue of $2.81 billion.

Net income for the third quarter was $146 million, compared to $136 million in the same period of the previous year.

The revenues for Garmin’s segments, compared to the third quarter from 2013, were:

Automotive/Mobile revenues fell 5% to $307.5 million.
Fitness revenues grew 43% to $116.1 million.
Outdoor revenues increased 19% to $121.0 million.
Aviation revenues increased 19% to $99.3 million.
Marine revenues increased 12% to $62.1 million.

Garmin paid $319 million in income tax expense this past quarter, including the $308 million associated with the inter-company restructuring, as announced in July. Adjusting for these items, the effective tax rate for the quarter was 21%, compared to the previous year, which had a rate of 15.7%. The full-year tax rate for 2014 is expected to be 17%.

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The company also noted in the earnings release that it had fully executed its $300 million share repurchase plan.

President and CEO Cliff Pemble commented on the third quarter:

Our strong year continued with a third consecutive quarter of revenue, operating income and pro forma EPS growth. Our non-automotive/mobile segments delivered 24% revenue growth and 70% of our operating profits. We believe we are well positioned with our current product portfolio while also investing for long-term sustained growth through further innovation and diversification.

Goldman Sachs upgraded Garmin to a Buy rating from Neutral and raised its price target to $64 from $61. Credit Suisse initiated coverage of Garmin with a Neutral rating and a price target of $54.

Shares of Garmin closed Tuesday up 1% at $57.20. Following the release of the earnings report, the initial response in Wednesday’s premarket was negative and shares were down over 1% at $56.47. They opened at $54.90.

The consensus analyst price target is $58.79, and the 52-week trading range is $43.03 to $62.05. Garmin has a market cap of about $11 billion.

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