Zebra Technologies Tops Q1 Expectations

reported stronger-than-expected results for the first quarter on Wednesday. The Lincolnshire, Illinois-based company reported a quarterly loss of $25.3 million, or $0.50 per share, versus net income of $41.6 million, or $0.82 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding one-time items, the company's earnings surged to $1.39 per share from $0.96 per share. Its revenue jumped 209.8 percent year-over-year to $893.2 million. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $1.12 per share on revenue of $881.8 million. The average estimate among 7 Estimize users was for earnings of $1.17 per share and revenue of $877.79 million. Sales of legacy Zebra rose 15 percent to $331.6 million from $288.3 million. Gross margin for the first quarter shrank to 45.8 percent in the first quarter, from 51.3 percent in the year-ago quarter. Operating expenses rose by $295.2 million from the year-ago quarter to $389.7 million. As of April 4, 2015, the company had cash of $329.5 million, inventories of $405.5 million, and long-term debt of $3.1 billion. "We started the year with strong, positive momentum, as business activity remained high specifically in North America and Europe," stated Anders Gustafsson, Zebra's chief executive officer. The executive added, "The favorable business trends are continuing into the second quarter, as Zebra is well positioned to benefit over the long term from the convergence of technology trends in the Internet of Things, mobility and cloud computing." For the current quarter, Zebra projects non-GAAP earnings of $1 to $1.25 per share on revenue of $865 million to $895 million. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.17 per share on revenue of $877 million. Zebra Technologies shares rose 0.64 percent to close at $93.66 yesterday.