Why Sierra Wireless, Inc. Is Falling Sharply

Sierra Wireless, Inc. (TSX:SW)(NASDAQ:SWIR) is falling sharply following the release of its Q2 results. Should you buy on the dip? Let’s find out.

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The Motley Fool

Sierra Wireless, Inc. (TSX:SW)(NASDAQ:SWIR), one of the world’s leading providers of fully integrated device-to-cloud solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT), announced its second-quarter earnings results after the market closed on Wednesday, and its stock reacted by making a sharp move to the downside in the extended-hours trading session. Let’s take a closer look at the quarterly results, its outlook on the third quarter, and the fundamentals of its stock to determine if we should consider using this weakness as a long-term buying opportunity.

A solid quarter of top- and bottom-line growth

Here’s a quick breakdown of 10 of the most notable financial statistics from Sierra Wireless’s three-month period ended on June 30, 2017, compared with the same period in 2016:

Metric Q2 2017 Q2 2016 Change
OEM Solutions revenues US$144.56 million US$132.67 million 9%
Enterprise Solutions revenues US$21.66 million US$16.58 million 30.7%
Cloud & Connectivity Services revenues US$7.29 million US$6.99 million 4.3%
Total revenues US$173.51 million US$156.23 million 11.1%
Adjusted gross profit US$58.81 million US$55.77 million 7.2%
Adjusted gross margin 34.5% 33.8% 70 basis points
Adjusted EBITDA US$14.8 million US$12.08 million 22.5%
Adjusted earnings from operations US$11.3 million US$8.43 million 34%
Adjusted net earnings US$9.69 million US$6.38 million 52%
Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) US$0.30 US$0.20 50%

Outlook on the third quarter 

In the press release, Sierra Wireless provided its outlook on the third quarter, calling for revenues in the range of US$167-175 million and adjusted EPS in the range of US$0.17-0.25.

Should you buy Sierra Wireless on the dip?

It was a solid quarter overall for Sierra Wireless, and the results surpassed the consensus estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, which called for adjusted EPS of US$0.28 on revenue of US$170.27 million. Furthermore, its outlook on the third quarter came in line with analysts’ expectations, which currently call for adjusted EPS of US$0.24 on revenue of US$170.33 million.

Immediately following the earnings release, Sierra Wireless announced its acquisition of Numerex Corp. for approximately US$107 million. Sierra Wireless noted that this acquisition “accelerates our IoT device-to-cloud strategy by adding an established customer base, significant sales capacity, proven solutions, and recurring revenue scale.”

To summarize Sierra Wireless’s two press releases, the company beat second-quarter earnings expectations, provided guidance for the third quarter that was in line with expectations, and it announced a strategic acquisition of another leading provider of managed enterprise solutions that enables the IoT; I think all of these are positives for the company, so I do not think the sharp decline in its stock is warranted. Furthermore, the stock now trades at less than 27 times fiscal 2017’s estimated EPS of US$1.02 and less than 23 times fiscal 2018’s estimated EPS of US$1.18, both of which are inexpensive given its current earnings-growth rate and its estimated 13.1% long-term growth rate.

With all of the information provided above in mind, I think Foolish investors should strongly consider using the post-earnings weakness in Sierra Wireless to begin scaling in to long-term positions.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium service or advisor. We’re Motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer, so we sometimes publish articles that may not be in line with recommendations, rankings or other content.

Fool contributor Joseph Solitro has no position in any stocks mentioned. David Gardner owns shares of Sierra Wireless. The Motley Fool owns shares of Sierra Wireless.

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