IRobot shares soar after solid 1st-quarter results
IRobot shares soar in late trading after solid 1st-quarter results, rosy guidance
NEW YORK (AP) -- IRobot Corp.'s shares surged Tuesday after the maker of robotic vacuum cleaners reported that its first-quarter results beat Wall Street expectations amid tighter expense controls. It raised its outlook.
The company, which makes Roomba vacuum cleaners, Scooba floor washers and robots for military purposes, said that it earned $8.4 million, or 29 cents per share, in the three-month period ended March 30. That compares with $653,000, or 2 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Total revenue rose 8.4 percent to $106.2 million, up from $97.8 million in the year-ago period.
Analysts had expected 17 cents per share on revenue of $103.5 million.
"We kicked off 2013 with an outstanding quarter," said Colin Angle, chairman and chief executive of iRobot in a statement. "The results and outlook for our home Robot business are excellent."
The Bedford, Mass.-based company said that domestic home robot revenue growth of 44 percent drove a 14 percent year-over year increase in quarterly home robot revenue. International home robot revenue of $61.3 million accounted for 66 percent of the total home robot revenue during the quarter.
The company said it expects revenue in the current quarter to be anywhere from $128 million to $133 million, and it projects earnings per share to be from 15 cents to 20 cents per share.
Analysts expect earnings per share of 12 cents on revenue of $115 million, according to FactSet.
For the year, it now anticipates revenue of $485 million to $495 million, up from a prior range of $480 million to $490 million. For the same time period, it now projects earnings per share between 80 cents and $1.00. That's up from its previous guidance of 57 cents to 72 cents per share.
Analysts had expected 81 cents on revenue of $485.4 million.
Shares rose more than 15 percent, or $3.84 to $28.50 in after-hours trading after closing up 26 cents to $24.66 Tuesday. The shares are trading at the high end of its 52-week range of $16.25 to $27.16.
