The long and short of this Xerox report is that bulls can claim an earnings victory, while bears can keep pointing to declining and disappointing revenues.
The company gave guidance for full-year earnings per share to be in the range of $1.11 to $1.13, and it expects that fourth-quarter earnings per share to be in the range of $0.30 to $0.32. Thomson Reuters has consensus earnings estimates for the fourth quarter of $0.31 per share and for the full year of $1.11 per share.
Net income was $273 million, down roughly 6.5% from the third-quarter in the previous year of $292 million. Third-quarter operating margin was 9.5%, which resulted in an operating profit of $486 million, up 0.1% year-over-year. Gross margin was 30.8%, and selling, administrative and general expenses were 18.6% of revenue.
Ursula Burns, Xerox chairman and CEO, said:
This quarter we delivered earnings at the high end of our range. Profits from our Document Technology business came in above expectations while Services results were lower than planned. Our Document Technology business continues to provide strong profitability, and we are continuing to invest in our Services business for revenue and profit improvement by strengthening leadership and evolving our operating model to better leverage our scale and drive efficiency and customer value. These activities will position us well for the future.
Standpoint Research upgraded Xerox to a Buy rating from Hold but lowered the price target to $16.00 from $16.50, on October 14. S&P Equity Research upgraded Xerox to a Strong Buy rating on October 8.
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Shares of Xerox closed Tuesday’s trading up over 4% to $13.20. Following the earnings announcement, the reaction in the premarket was mildly negative and shares were down 1% at $13.06. The shares have a consensus analyst price target of $13.95 and a 52-week range of $9.55 to $14.15. The company has a market cap of $15 billion.
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