LXK: My Close Call on Lexmark
Even though I knew printer maker Lexmark (LXK) is always prone to tripping up, I recently took a chance on the name by selling put options that would have required me to pay $50 per share had the shares fallen below that level prior to June 18. Today, the company announced that earnings won’t be as high as they had hoped for the current or next quarter, at least:
Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE: LXK) today announced that financial results for its second quarter of 2007 will be lower than expected. Although based on partial data for the quarter, the company expects its second-quarter revenue to decline about 2 percent year over year. It expects its GAAP earnings per share to be in the range of $0.64 to $0.69. Excluding net restructuring-related benefits, the company expects earnings per share to be in the range of $0.62 to $0.67. Both of these earnings per share ranges include an expected tax benefit of about $0.05 per share. This compares to the $0.82 to $0.92 earnings per share guidance it provided for the second quarter.
As compared to the company’s guidance for the second quarter, the earnings per share impact is due to a shortfall in operating income in the consumer market segment. This shortfall is primarily due to less than expected inkjet supplies revenue, lower hardware average unit revenue driven by aggressive pricing and promotion, some greater than expected product costs, and greater than expected branded inkjet unit growth.
Looking ahead, the company expects these same factors to impact the third quarter. In the third quarter of 2007, although the analysis is not yet complete, the company currently expects earnings per share to be around $0.00 to $0.10. The company plans to release second-quarter earnings on July 24, 2007.
My put options expired, so I was able to keep the premium on them and am no longer obligated to buy the shares several points higher than they are trading off of this news. I’m glad the stock market isn’t like horseshoes.
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[...] $1.208 billion, down 2 percent compared to revenue of $1.229 billion last year and in line with the recently lowered guidance. Second-quarter GAAP earnings per share were $0.67. Earnings per share for the second quarter of [...]