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Zebra Technologies' (ZBRA) Q2 Earnings Beat, '22 View Bearish

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Zebra Technologies Corporation (ZBRA - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2022 adjusted earnings (excluding $6.09 from non-recurring items) of $4.22 per share, outperforming the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.93. The bottom-line increased year over year.

Total revenues of $1,468 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,446.7 million. The top line increased 6.6% year over year. Consolidated organic net sales increased 6.9% year over year. Acquisitions contributed 1.7% to the top line, while foreign-currency translation had an adverse impact of 2% on sales.

Segmental Performance

Revenues from the Asset Intelligence & Tracking (AIT) segment were $446 million, up 7.7% year over year. Organic net sales increased 9.7% in the AIT segment. Foreign-currency translation hurt segmental revenues by 2%.

The Enterprise Visibility & Mobility segment’s revenues were $1,022 million, up 5.8% year over year. The results benefited from 5.6% growth in organic sales. Acquisitions contributed 2% to the top line, while foreign-currency translations hurt revenues by 1.8%.

Margin Profile

In the second quarter, Zebra Technologies’ cost of sales totaled $794 million, up 10.4% year over year. Total operating expenses were $819 million, up nearly 100% year over year.

ZBRA incurred a net loss of $98 million for the second quarter compared with net income of $219 million in the year-ago period.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

Exiting the second quarter, Zebra Technologies had cash and cash equivalents of $98 million compared with $332 million at the end of December 2021. Long-term debt was $2,017 million compared with $922 million at the end of December 2021.

In the first six months of 2022, Zebra Technologies generated net cash of $154 million compared with $539 million at the end of the year-ago period. In the first half of 2022, the company incurred capital expenditures of $31 million, while free cash flow was $123 million. During the same period, the company repurchased shares worth $605 million.

Q3 Outlook

For the third quarter of 2022, Zebra Technologies adjusted net sales to increase 2-4% year over year. The guidance includes an approximate 2-point positive impact from its acquired businesses and a 3-point negative impact from foreign-currency translation. Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be approximately 22% in the third quarter. Effective tax rate is estimated to be approximately 18%. Adjusted earnings per share are predicted to be in the range of $4.35-$4.65. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $5.04.

2022 Outlook

Zebra Technologies now expects adjusted net sales to increase 4-6% year over year in 2022 compared with a rise of 3-7% estimated earlier. The guidance includes an approximate 150 basis point positive impact from acquired businesses and an approximate 225 basis point negative impact from foreign-currency headwinds.

Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be approximately 22% for the full year compared with 22-23% anticipated earlier. The reduced guidance is due to foreign-currency woes. ZBRA now predicts free cash flow to be at least $650 million (including an anticipated $150 million of settlement and related payments) compared with the previous expectation of at least $800 million.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Zebra Technologies carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks within the broader Industrial Products sector are as follows:

Greif, Inc. (GEF - Free Report) presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). GEF delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 22.9%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks.

Greif has an estimated earnings growth rate of 36.8% for the current year. Shares of the company have gained 22.2% in the past six months.

Titan International, Inc. presently flaunts a Zacks Rank of 1. Its earnings surprise in the last four quarters was 47%, on average.

Titan International has an estimated earnings growth rate of 164.7% for the current year. Shares of the company have rallied 74.8% in the past six months.

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