Harris (HRS) Q1 Earnings Surpass, Revenues Miss Estimates

Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) reported first-quarter fiscal 2018 (ended September 29, 2017) earnings of $1.38 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.35. Revenues in the quarter came in at $1,413 million, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,424.8 million.

Cost of product sales and services in the reported quarter was $898 million compared with $897 million in the prior-year quarter. Engineering, selling & administrative expenses totaled $243 million in the quarter under review compared with $277 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2017.

Segmental Performance

Revenues at the Communication Systems segment came in at $410 million in the quarter, down 5% due to lower International Tactical Communications volume.Segmental operating income was flat year over year at $118 million.

Revenues at the Space and Intelligence Systems unit were $466 million, up 3%. Results were aided by space superiority programs.Operating income for the segment was $87 million, up 10% on the back of higher volumes, impressive program performance and incremental pension income.

Revenues at the Electronic Systems unit inched up 1% to $540 million. Segmental operating income was $109 million, down 2%.

At the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2018, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $388 million compared with $284 million at the end of first-quarter fiscal 2017. Total long-term debt at the end of first-quarter fiscal 2018 was $3,395 million compared with $3,396 million at the end of fourth-quarter fiscal 2017.

FY18 View

The company’s projections for fiscal 2018 remain unchanged. It continues to expect fiscal 2018 earnings per share (on an adjusted basis) in the band of $5.85-$6.05 per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2018 earnings currently stands at $5.98 per share. Fiscal 2018 revenues are expected in the range of $6.02-6.14 billion, up 2-4% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues in fiscal 2018 currently stands at $6.08 billion. The company anticipates free cash flow for fiscal 2018 in the band of $850-$900 million.

Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

Harris currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some other top-ranked stocks in the Computer and Technology sector are Sonus Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONS) , Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (NASDAQ:CMTL) and Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBNT) . You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Shares of Sonus Networks, Comtech Telecommunications and Ubiquiti Networks have rallied more than 44%, 100% and 19%, respectively in a year.

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