Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Simulations Plus (SLP) Q2 Earnings & Revenues Beat Estimates

Read MoreHide Full Article

Simulations Plus (SLP - Free Report) reported second-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings of 20 cents per share, unchanged on a year-over-year basis. The figure topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.1%.

The top line increased 16% year over year to $18.3 million driven by higher software revenues in the Clinical Pharmacology & Pharmacometrics (CPP) and Cheminformatics business units. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7.2%.

Following the results, shares of SLP are up 9.1% in the premarket trading on Apr 4.

Simulations Plus, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Simulations Plus, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Simulations Plus, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Simulations Plus, Inc. Quote

Quarter in Details

Revenues from Software (63% of total quarterly revenues) increased 11% year over year to $11.6 million.

Sales of MonolixSuite were up 38%. GastroPlus and ADMET Predictor offerings sales saw an increase of 2% and 14% year over year, respectively.

The renewal rate for commercial customers came in at 94% (based upon fees) and 85% (based on accounts) compared with 94% and 80% in the prior quarter, respectively.

Services’ revenues (37%) improved 27% to $6.7 million. The segment’s top line gained from higher revenues from Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP) and Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetics (PBPK) business units.

Sales of PBPK unit were up 39%. QSP and CPP sales saw an increase of 78% and 10% year over year, respectively.  QSP unit is gaining from increasing immunology and cancer model projects.

Services’ backlog was $18 million at the end of the reported quarter, up 16.9% year over year.

Operating Details

The gross margin in the quarter under review was 72% compared with 83% in the prior-year quarter. The Software segment’s gross margin came in at 88% compared with 92% in the prior-year quarter. Services’ gross margin was 44% compared with 66% reported in the year-earlier quarter.

Total operating expenses, as a percentage of revenues, were 48% compared with 58% a year ago.

The operating income margin was 24% compared with 26% a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA margin came in at 39%, unchanged from the prior-year quarter.

Balance Sheet

As of Feb 29, 2023, cash and short-term investments were $108.5 million compared with $113.9 million as of Nov 30, 2023.

The company declared a cash dividend of 6 cents per share, payable on May 6 to stockholders as of Apr 29.

Outlook Reiterated

For fiscal 2024, Simulations Plus continues to expect revenues to be between $66 million and $69 million. This suggests an increase of 10-15% compared with fiscal 2023 revenues.

The company projects Software and Services to consist 55-60% and 40-45% of revenues, respectively. SLP estimates earnings per share to increase in the band of 35-39% from the year-ago levels and to be between 66 cents and 68 cents.

Currently, Simulations Plus carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks worth consideration in the broader technology space are Synopsys (SNPS - Free Report) , Iridium Communications (IRDM - Free Report) and Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) . While SNPS and IRDM sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each, MSFT carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SNPS’ fiscal 2024 EPS is pegged at $13.36. The long-term earnings growth rate is 17.5%. SNPS’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 4.1%. Shares of SNPS have soared 50.5% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IRDM’s 2024 EPS has increased 148.3% in the past 60 days to 72 cents.  Iridium’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the last four quarters and missed twice. The average earnings surprise is 91.7%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Microsoft’s fiscal 2024 EPS is pegged at $11.63, indicating growth of 18.6% from the year-ago levels. MSFT’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 8.8%. The long-term earnings growth rate is 16.2%. Shares of MSFT have rallied 46.7% in the past year.

Published in