Logitech Tops Zacks Consensus

Logitech International (LOGI - Analyst Report) reported earnings per share of 11 cents for the second quarter of 2010, higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 6 cents.

Sales for the quarter were $498 million, a decrease of 25% compared to $665 million in the same quarter last year. Excluding the unfavorable impact of exchange rate changes, sales decreased by 24%. Logitech’s retail sales for Q2 declined by 19% year over year, with sales down by 5% in the Americas, 24% in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and 28% in Asia. OEM (original equipment manufacturer) sales were down by 54%.

Retail sales in EMEA declined by 24% compared to the prior year with sell-through down by 21%. In the Americas, retail sales fell by just 5% with sell-through down by 9% compared to the prior year. Sell-through was better than expected in both the US and Canada. The Americas made a significant contribution to the strong sequential improvement in the company's gross margin.

Turning to Asia-Pacific, the channel reset in this region is taking a bit longer to complete than expected. As a result, the company experienced a fairly large difference between retail sales which declined by 28% and sell-through which was down by just 1% over the prior year.

Although sales performance was weaker than unit shipments in most product families except for remotes, overall retail average selling price fell by just 5% compared to the prior year, a significantly smaller decline than in the previous two quarters. More importantly, retail average selling price increased by 10% on a sequential basis, with gains in remotes, audio, keyboard desktop and gaming categories.

Sales of products priced above $100 represented 15% of retail sales in the quarter, down from 18% in the prior year but up from 12% in prior quarter. The sequential improvement primarily reflected better performance in the remotes category.

OEM sales fell by 54% year over year. The primary factor in the decline was the console gaming category, where sales were down by more than 80% compared to last year's record performance.

The company ended the quarter with over $0.5 billion in cash, up by 15% compared to the prior year despite the dramatically worse economic environment and significant share repurchase activity during the most recent quarter. Shareowners’ equity was at $0.9 billion and there was no long-term debt at the end of the quarter.

For the third quarter of FY 2010, Logitech expects sales within the range of $575 million to $595 million, gross margin of approximately 31% and operating income in the range of $45 million to $50 million.

Logitech International S.A. engages in design, manufacture, and marketing of personal peripherals for personal computers and other digital platforms -- mice, trackballs, keyboards and desktops, gaming controllers, multimedia speakers, headsets, Webcams, 3D control devices, speakers, headphones, earphones and custom in-ear monitors. The company also provides wireless music solutions for home, remote controls for home entertainment systems and PC-based video security systems for home or small business, among other things. Major competitors include Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Snapshot Report) and Koninklijke Philips Electronics (PHG - Analyst Report).

We currently have a Neutral recommendation on LOGI.