Sonosite Delivers Revenues and Earnings Below Estimates

Ultrasound manufacturer Sonosite $SONO gave results which were below analyst forecasts and also below the company’s internal forecasts. Although this is a disappointment, it is not as bad as it superficially appears and looks to be part of the usual ‘variance’ that happens with fast growing companies. Nevertheless, I would expect the stock to be marked down.

Firstly, turning to the results

• Rev 72.7m vs. 73.8m forecast
• EPS of -8c vs. 10c forecast
• Full year guidance maintained as per conference call

In other words this is a 17c miss on earnings and revenues were light. This is not a good headline but delving deeper into the results and conference call, it looks like this is more to do with a timing of orders than any protracted weakness.

Sonosite’s Missing Orders

Essentially, the management is saying that there were $4-5m in orders in Q2 which were delayed and are due to be rolled over in the next quarter. Now, if I had a dime for every time I’ve heard that sales that hadn’t been booked were just about to ‘come in’ I’d probably have enough to make up Sonosite’s shortfall myself! The market will approach the issue with the same level of skepticism. As for the earnings shortfall, this is explained by the fact that Sonosite has over 70% gross margin, a few million lost in sales will drop through heavily into the bottom line. Had the orders come in, then Sonosite would have handily beaten estimates.

Skepticism aside and having listened to the conference call, I thought that Sonosite were very specific about these orders and were quite willing to put credibility on the line in outlining their belief that they were part of a non systemic and incongruent sequence of events. For example, 25% of the shortfall was due to VisualSonics (VSI) and this amounts to just three orders. Moreover, most of the shortfall has subsequently come in and only $300k has ‘evaporated’. According to the management, if there was a systemic weakness, it was to be found in the UK. In addition, guidance has been kept the same for the full year, so clearly they are expecting to beat pre-existing forecasts for the next quarter.

Sonosite’s Opportunities in the Second Half

The results in the first half were categorized by an increase in R & D costs and SG & A which saw total Operating Expenses rise to 66.2% of sales from 64% last year. This increase in expenses is largely due to integrating Visual Sonics and too the launch of new products as part of the three year strategic plan. Indeed, the management concluded the conference call by pointing out that margin improvements were due to take place in the second half.

One cause for concern is the rising working capital requirements. This is natural in a business that is about to accelerate revenues, but as shipments were lighter than expected in the quarter, Sonosite saw inventories rise. In conclusion, if there is a pronounced correction on the back of this result than a decent buying opportunity could be being created. GE $GE gave results recently and reported good growth in compact ultrasound shares and with Sonosite affirming that it had -at least- retained market share in the US, this looks like a timing of orders issue rather than a cause for sustained weakness.