Top Performer for Wed: Gerber Scientific (GRB)

As the market hobbles along this Wednesday afternoon, Gerber Scientific, Inc. (GRB - Snapshot Report) finds itself up by nearly 4%. That's enough to make the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List on this lackluster day.

GRB is a leading international supplier of sophisticated automated manufacturing systems for the sign making, specialty graphics and packaging, apparel and flexible materials, and ophthalmic lens processing industries. The company's 4 businesses are Gerber Scientific Products, Spandex, Gerber Technology and Gerber Coburn.

GRB is 1 of only 2 companies from the Industrial - automation/robotics industry on the Zacks #1 Rank List, which includes 225 stocks today. The other company is iRobot Corporation (IRBT - Snapshot Report).

Sold!

Some of the most recent news for Gerber Scientific includes the sale of its ND Graphics business unit, announced early this month. The purchasers were a group of investors led by the president of the unit.

GRB stated that the proceeds from this transaction will provide additional flexibility under its senior credit facility.

Fiscal First Quarter

In late August, Gerber Scientific announced earnings per share from continuing operations of 5 cents, which was a solid improvement over the year-ago result of 3 cents. It also marked a surprise of 400% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate, which called for only a penny.

However, the company still experienced weakness across most of its markets, and announced that revenue declined by 24.6% to $119.7 million.

Despite its challenges, GRB did see "encouraging signs of improved activity" during the quarter. The company is setting up for a rebound in the back half of its fiscal year.

"We don't expect to see any measurable improvement in our top line until the last half of fiscal 2010," stated President/CEO Marc Giles. "Nevertheless, we do believe our revenue level has stabilized, as substantiated by essentially flat sequential sales performance from the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter, and expect to be back on track to deliver improved earnings performance in the last half of the fiscal year."

Earnings Estimates

Gerber Scientific's current fiscal year ends April 2010. At the moment, the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at 20 cents per share, which has been steady over the past month. However, the guidance, which is based on 2 covering analysts, is up 100% from 3 months ago and 5.3% from 2 months ago.

Though it's still early, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for next fiscal year, ending April 2011, is at 35 cents per share. That suggests year-over-year profit growth of 75% over this fiscal year. This outlook, based on 1 covering analyst, has gained nearly 60% from 3 months ago.