Cooper Companies Posts Upbeat Q3 Profit, But Issues Weak Revenue Forecast

reported upbeat earnings for its fiscal third quarter. However, the company issued a weak revenue forecast. The Pleasanton, California-based company posted quarterly earnings of $45 million, or $0.91 per share, down from $88.1 million or $1.80 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding special items, the company's earnings slipped 2 percent to $1.97 per share. Its revenue climbed 6.8 percent year-over-year to $461.7 million. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $1.95 per share on revenue of $464.12 million. Gross margin narrowed to 59 percent in the latest quarter, from 65 percent in the year-ago quarter. Operating margin shrank to 11 percent from 22 percent. Robert S. Weiss, Cooper's president and chief executive officer said, "I am pleased to report another strong quarter. CooperVision gained significant market share and we made a lot of progress with our family of daily silicone hydrogel products. The remainder of the year looks solid and we should enter fiscal 2016 with strong momentum." For the current quarter, the company projects earnings of $2.07 to $2.17 per share, on revenue of $467 million to $484 million. Analysts had expected earnings of $2.13 per share on revenue of $494.74 million. For the year, Cooper Companies now projects revenue of $1.808 billion to $1.825 billion, versus its earlier forecast of $1.82 billion to $1.86 billion. The company now expects earnings of $7.51 to $7.61 per share, versus its prior outlook of $7.40 to $7.70 per share. Cooper Companies shares slipped 0.29 percent to $160.78 in after-hours trading.