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Praxair Second Quarter Earnings
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Praxair (NYSE:PX) announced its results for the second quarter on July 25, 2012. Praxair produces and sells atmospheric, process and specialty gases, and high-performance surface coatings to industrial clients.
Earnings season is important to investors because it shows how much profit is left in the company's hand after deducting costs from revenue. SEE: Earnings: Quality Means Everything
The Numbers: Praxair's EPS fell in line with analyst expectations of $1.42 per share while revenue of $2.81 billion missed estimates of $2.93 billion. EPS rose 2.9% while revenue declined 1.6% from the same period last year. Slumping revenue in the last quarter ends Praxair's streak of four consecutive quarters of revenue increases. Net income for the second quarter was $429 million. This is 0.9% higher than the year-ago quarter. Last quarter marked the third in a row of rising net income.
Management Quote: Commenting on the financial results and business outlook, chairman, president and chief executive officer Steve Angel said, "North America, our largest region, experienced solid growth and improved operating leverage. Europe and South America were negatively impacted by weaker currencies and macro-economic conditions. Asia sales benefited from new project start-ups to supply customers under long-term contracts." "Our backlog of large projects with customer contracts remains strong at $2.5 billion and new customer proposal activity remains at healthy levels."
A Look Back: Net income has increased 50.1% year-over-year on average across the last five quarters. The biggest gain came in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, when income climbed more than threefold from the year-earlier quarter.
Looking Ahead: Analysts appear increasingly negative about the company's results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the third quarter has moved down from $1.52 a share to $1.49 over the last 60 days. Decreasing earnings estimates is generally a negative sign as it suggests analyst believe future earnings to be weaker than previously anticipated. The average estimate for the fiscal year is now $5.79 per share, down from $5.85 60 days ago.
Earnings season is important to investors because it shows how much profit is left in the company's hand after deducting costs from revenue. SEE: Earnings: Quality Means Everything
The Numbers: Praxair's EPS fell in line with analyst expectations of $1.42 per share while revenue of $2.81 billion missed estimates of $2.93 billion. EPS rose 2.9% while revenue declined 1.6% from the same period last year. Slumping revenue in the last quarter ends Praxair's streak of four consecutive quarters of revenue increases. Net income for the second quarter was $429 million. This is 0.9% higher than the year-ago quarter. Last quarter marked the third in a row of rising net income.
Management Quote: Commenting on the financial results and business outlook, chairman, president and chief executive officer Steve Angel said, "North America, our largest region, experienced solid growth and improved operating leverage. Europe and South America were negatively impacted by weaker currencies and macro-economic conditions. Asia sales benefited from new project start-ups to supply customers under long-term contracts." "Our backlog of large projects with customer contracts remains strong at $2.5 billion and new customer proposal activity remains at healthy levels."
A Look Back: Net income has increased 50.1% year-over-year on average across the last five quarters. The biggest gain came in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, when income climbed more than threefold from the year-earlier quarter.
Looking Ahead: Analysts appear increasingly negative about the company's results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the third quarter has moved down from $1.52 a share to $1.49 over the last 60 days. Decreasing earnings estimates is generally a negative sign as it suggests analyst believe future earnings to be weaker than previously anticipated. The average estimate for the fiscal year is now $5.79 per share, down from $5.85 60 days ago.
by
Investopedia Staff
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