Tag Archives: Herman Miller

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Would You Be Comfortable Investing in Herman Miller?

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By Michael Lewis, The Motley Fool

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Office ergonomics are something we think little about but are greatly affected by, if subconsciously. Office furniture design house Herman Miler is one of the best in the business, combining amazing functionality with style and comfort. Items as simple as desk chairs (we know how important this can be) can sell for more than $1,000, and full office systems many times that. The company’s price point and production methods have helped create better-than-expected gross margins, most recently yielding a 23% increase in adjusted earnings per share. At 15 times forward earnings, and with strong prospects ahead, this furniture design company is trading at a discount to peers and may be the best-in-class. Here’s what you need to know about Herman Miller.

Comfortable earnings
The most recent quarter marks a turnaround point for Herman Miller. In the four quarters preceding, the company had year-over-year declines in sales figures. For the past couple of years, the North American market has been particularly hard for the company because of soft government demand. However, the company has recently seen a 5% uptick in sales along with a 10-point pickup in orders for the region — certainly encouraging, and going along with analyst expectations for the industry.

Outside North America, things look much better. Sales during the third quarter grew by an impressive 17%, and future orders were up 3% from the prior year. As is typical of many high-priced design businesses, high-margin items selling well in Asia were largely responsible for the growth.

The company’s seating line is its classic offering — attractive sitting solutions (yes, that’s a term) that are incredibly comfortable and made for some serious, long-term sitting. The current product cycle appears to be at its end, with a major overhaul coming this spring. As the cycle renews, this should help boost sales in subsequent quarters.

As far as numbers go, the company beat the Street on the bottom line but missed on revenues. Sales came in at a 6% premium to the prior year’s quarter, with $424 million. The majority of the company’s sales comes from North America. In the third quarter, the region was responsible for $285 million, and non-North American sales were at $91 million. The company’s Specialty and Consumer segment continues to outperform, up 13% to $47 million. The aforementioned gross margin, at 34.2% (excluding legacy pension expenses), was higher than the company expected and drove bottom-line earnings to their double-digit gains.

Herman Miller made $30 million in free cash flow for the quarter.

Looking forward, the company expects another $430 million to $450 million in sales to cap off the year, representing a 2% to 7% increase over the prior year’s numbers. Gross margins are expected to remain at their elevated level, and EPS are targeted to come in at $0.34 to $0.38, adjusted.

What it all means
So Herman Miller is clearly navigating the tepid economic recovery in the United States quite well, with the exception of its …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Steelcase Earnings: An Early Look

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By Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool

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Earnings season is just about over, with almost all companies already having reported their quarterly results. But there are still a few companies left to report, and Steelcase is about to release its quarterly earnings. The key to making smart investment decisions with stocks releasing their quarterly reports is to anticipate how they’ll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you’ll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

Steelcase makes furniture and other architectural products primarily for business use, as well as electronic whiteboards and other communication-related products for educational, business, and government customers. Yet as businesses have implemented cost-cutting measures, many have had to reduce their spending on non-essential items. Let’s take an early look at what’s been happening with Steelcase over the past quarter and what we’re likely to see in its quarterly report on Wednesday.

Stats on Steelcase

Analyst EPS Estimate

$0.19

Change From Year-Ago EPS

36%

Revenue Estimate

$709.5 million

Change From Year-Ago Revenue

2.8%

Earnings Beats in Past 4 Quarters

1

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

Will Steelcase make investors feel comfortable this quarter?
Analysts have been rock-solid in their calls on Steelcase’s earnings lately, having not budged on both most-recent quarter and full-year fiscal 2014 estimates throughout the past several months. The stock, though, has moved favorably, rising nearly 20% since mid-December.

Despite tough economic environment, Steelcase has done a good job of identifying a niche that has been able to keep growing. By targeting large corporate customers with high-end office furniture, Steelcase has drilled down with an active focus on providing what its clients see as necessities while still maintaining its overall profitability.

Still, Steelcase faces strong competition. Cubicle-maker Herman Miller managed to beat earnings estimates in its own quarterly report late last week, sending its shares soaring more than 7%. Herman Miller sports better margins and return-on-equity than Steelcase, although Steelcase has a more secure balance sheet with a lower debt-to-equity ratio than its rival. HNI , on the other hand, missed its earnings estimates back in February.

Overall, though, stock prices throughout the industry have been doing well. As the economy recovers more quickly, especially in the housing industry, furniture companies have seen sales rise. Although office furniture isn’t necessarily correlated to housing, investors seem to put Steelcase and its peers in the same category.

In its quarterly report, watch for Steelcase to discuss its Gesture line of chairs, which addresses the results of a recent study it did to see how mobile devices change sitting postures. With business customers seeking to decrease workers’ compensation claims, they’re often willing to pay up for the latest technology, and if Steelcase can make its case for the need for new furniture to accommodate tablets and smartphones, it …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Herman Miller Beats Analyst Estimates on EPS

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By Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool

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Herman Miller (NAS: MLHR) reported earnings on March 20. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended March 2 (Q3), Herman Miller missed estimates on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew. Non-GAAP earnings per share increased significantly. GAAP earnings per share increased.

Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
 Herman Miller booked revenue of $423.5 million. The four analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted a top line of $437.7 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 5.9% higher than the prior-year quarter’s $399.8 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 EPS came in at $0.32. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.28 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.32 for Q3 were 23% higher than the prior-year quarter’s $0.26 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.28 for Q3 were 12% higher than the prior-year quarter’s $0.25 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 34.1%, 50 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 6.5%, 20 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 3.9%, 20 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter’s average estimate for revenue is $448.9 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.35.

Next year’s average estimate for revenue is $1.78 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.37.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 121 members out of 133 rating the stock outperform, and 12 members rating it underperform. Among 46 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 44 give Herman Miller a green thumbs-up, and two give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Herman Miller is outperform, with an average price target of $29.00.

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The article Herman Miller Beats Analyst …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

What Does Wall Street See for Herman Miller's Q3?

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By Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool

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Herman Miller (NAS: MLHR) is expected to report Q3 earnings around March 20. Here’s what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
 Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Herman Miller‘s revenues will grow 9.5% and EPS will grow 7.7%.

The average estimate for revenue is $437.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.28.

Revenue details
 Last quarter, Herman Miller chalked up revenue of $441.8 million. GAAP reported sales were 0.9% lower than the prior-year quarter’s $445.6 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 Last quarter, non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.35. GAAP EPS of $0.14 for Q2 were 66% lower than the prior-year quarter’s $0.41 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
 For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 33.6%, 50 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 4.1%, 500 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 1.9%, 340 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year’s average estimate for revenue is $1.78 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.37.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 120 members out of 132 rating the stock outperform, and 12 members rating it underperform. Among 44 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 42 give Herman Miller a green thumbs-up, and two give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Herman Miller is outperform, with an average price target of $29.00.

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The article What Does Wall Street See for Herman Miller’s Q3? originally appeared on Fool.com.


Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor of Motley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool has no position …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance