Trimble May Knock GPS Stocks (TRMB, GRMN, SIRF, NVT)

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
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Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) posted EPS of $0.29 non-GAAP on revenues of $296 million; First Call had estimates at $0.28 EPS on revenues of $299.7 million.  The company posted $0.22 GAAP EPS(on higher tax rates).  Operating income for the third quarter of 2007 was $43.8 million, up 21% from the third quarter of 2006. Operating margins in the third quarter of 2007 were 14.8 percent, compared to 15.5% in the third quarter of 2006 (on amortization costs).

Guidance was issued as well. Trimble expects revenue to grow 26% to 28% compared to the fourth quarter of 2006, with revenue between $295 million and $300 million (estimates are $296 million). Trimble expects fourth quarter 2007 GAAP earnings per share between $0.17 and $0.19 and non-GAAP earnings per share between $0.24 and $0.26 (estimates are $0.25). Its non-GAAP guidance use a 39 percent tax rate, compared to an actual 25 percent tax rate in the fourth quarter of 2006, and assume 126 million shares outstanding.

Unfortunately, Wall Street is expecting more out of GPS stocks now.  Now a decision has to be made to see if the laggard in the sector will carry over to the leaders.  TRMB is trading down 10% at $43.05 in after-hours trading after a 6% gain today.

NAVTEQ (NVT) shares are down but only marginally because of the Nokia buyout.  Shares of Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) are down 1.25% at $119.00 in after-hours trading, although shares closed up 4.6% today.  No trading has been seen in SiRF Tech (NASDAQ:SIRF).

Jon C. Ogg
October 23, 2007

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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