Tencent Technology News according to foreign media reports, iRobot, a US manufacturer of floor-sweeping robots, released its results for the first quarter of 2018 on Tuesday. IRobot reported first-quarter revenue of $217.1 million, up 28.8% from the same period last year, and net profit of $20.4 million, up 24.3% from the same period last year.
IRobot's first-quarter results exceeded market expectations. Market analysts had on average expected first-quarter diluted earnings of 51 cents a share on revenue of $215.3 million, according to a Thomson Reuters survey.
Main results for the first quarter:
-- iRobot's revenue was $217.1 million, up 28.8% from $168.5 million in the same period last year.
-- iRobot's first-quarter operating profit was $25.4 million, up from $21.6 million a year earlier.
-- iRobot's first-quarter net profit was $20.4 million, or 71 cents per diluted share. The result was better than the net profit of $16.4 million, or 58 cents per diluted share, in the same period last year.
-- iRobot's first-quarter gross profit was $115.8 million, up from $87 million in the same period last year; iRobot's first-quarter gross profit margin was 53.3%, up from 51.8% in the same period last year.
-- iRobot's operating expenses were $90.4 million in the first quarter, up from $65.7 million in the same period last year. Of this total, R & D expenditure was $32.9 million, up from $25.5 million in the same period last year; sales and marketing expenditure was $31.3 million, up from $22.6 million in the same period last year; and general and administrative expenses were $25.8 million, up from $17.6 million in the same period last year.
-- iRobot's first-quarter pre-tax profit was $25.9 million, up from $21.6 million in the same period last year.
IRobot sold a total of 712000 floor-sweeping robots in the first quarter, up from 582000 in the same period last year, and sales of $201 million, up from $151 million in the same period last year. The total number of floor-wiping robots sold was 104000, down from 121000 in the same period last year, and sales were $16 million, down from $17 million in the same period last year.
IRobot's average selling price for robots in the first quarter was $309, up from $258 in the same period last year.
Performance expectations:
IRobot expects 2018 revenue of $1.05 billion to $1.08 billion, operating profit of $86 million to $96 million and earnings per share of $2.15 to $2.40.
Changes in stock prices:
IRobot shares fell 87 cents, or 1.45%, to close at $59.08 in regular trading on the Nasdaq stock market on Tuesday. In after-hours trading, iRobot shares rose $1.82, or 3.08 per cent, to close at $60.90, driven by better-than-expected results. Over the past 52 weeks, iRobot shares have traded as low as $55.77 and as high as $109.78. Based on Tuesday's closing price, iRobot has a market capitalization of about $1.66 billion. (compiled / Mingxuan)