Amdocs (DOX) Q4 Earnings In Line, Revenues Top Estimates

Amdocs Ltd.’s (NASDAQ:DOX) fourth-quarter fiscal 2016 (ended Sep 30, 2016) earnings (on an adjusted basis) of 83 cents a share were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, on a reported basis, the company’s earnings came in at 64 cents per share compared with 59 cents in the prior-year quarter.

Quarterly Performance

Amdocs’ total revenue came in at $941 million, up 1.2% year over year. The top line was also above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $939 million. The company’s twelve-month order backlog at the end of the fiscal fourth quarter was $3.17 billion compared with $3.01 billion in the prior-year quarter. Operating income was approximately $161 million, up 2.7% year over year.

Segmental Results

Managed Service revenues totaled $478.5 million, up 2.6% year over year. Customer Experience revenues were $924.9 million, up 2.8% from the year-earlier quarter. Systems Directory revenues of $15.8 million were down 4.2% year over year.

Geographically, revenues from North America remained flat year over year at generated $626.2 million. Europe recorded revenues of $118.9 million, up 3.1% year over year. Rest of the World generated revenues of $195.6 million, up 5.8% year over year.

The company’s revenue improvement across the major segments in spite of stiff competition from peers like Barracuda Networks Inc. (NYSE:CUDA) , CDK Global Inc. (NASDAQ:CDK) , and CSRA Inc. (NYSE:CSRA) is impressive.

Liquidity

At the end of the fiscal fourth quarter, free cash flow was $125 million compared with $190 million a year ago. At the end of fiscal 2016, Amdocs had approximately $1,096 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term interest-bearing investments compared with $1,354 million at the end of fiscal 2015.

Financial Outlook

Management projects revenues in the range of $935–$975 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2017. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues stands at $939.10 million. Earnings per share, on a GAAP basis, are expected between 59 cents and 67 cents for the same period. Non-GAAP earnings per share are projected in the 87–93 cents range. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fiscal first quarter stands at 83 cents which is below the guidance issued by the company.

For fiscal 2017, the company expects revenue to grow in the band of 2–6%, while non-GAAP diluted earnings per share are expected to grow around 4.5–8.5%.

Dividend Payments

Following the earnings announcement, this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company declared a cash dividend of 19.5 cents per share. The dividend is to be paid on Jan 13, 2017. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Moreover, the company announced that it will increase quarterly dividends by 12.8% to 22 cents per share, which is likely to be paid in Apr 2017, subject to shareholder approval. The decision will be taken during the company’s annual general meeting of shareholders in 2017.

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