Magna (MGA) Q4 Earnings & Revenues Drive Past Estimates

Magna International, Inc. ( (NYSE:MGA) reported fourth-quarter 2017 adjusted earnings per share of $1.57, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a cent. The bottom line also improved 20% from $1.31 recorded in the same period of 2016.

Sales increased 12% year over year to $10.39 billion. The top line also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.96 billion. The rise in sales is primarily owing to an appreciable rise in company’s complete vehicle-assembly sales, which includes the production of BMW 5-Series and Jaguar E-Pace at the Graz, Austria assembly plant.

Moreover, the company reported a 16% increase in adjusted EBIT to $809 million from the year-ago figure of $696 million.

Magna International Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Full-Year 2017 Results

Magna International reported adjusted earnings to be $5.96 per share in 2017, up from $5.23 in 2016. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings was $5.96 per share.

In 2017, sales increased to $38.95 billion from $36.45 billion in 2016. The figure also surpassed Zacks Consensus Estimate of $37.51 billion.

Regional Performances

In North America, External Production sales were $4.9 billion, almost in line with the prior-ago quarter. However, Tooling, Engineering & Other sales rose 8% to $388 million. Total sales in the region were $5.3 billion, almost in line with fourth-quarter 2016.

In Europe, External Production sales rallied 23% to $2.7 billion while Tooling, Engineering & Other sales increased 2% to $593 million. Also, the region’s Complete Vehicle Assembly sales rose 129% to $1 billion from the prior-year quarter. Total sales in the region gained 34% year over year to $4.3 billion.

In Asia, External Production sales slumped 3% to $644 million while Tooling, Engineering & Other sales increased 34% to $794 million. Total sales in the region was up 2% year over year to $794 million.

In Rest of World, External Production sales gained 15% to $153 million, whereas Tooling, Engineering & Other sales declined 36% to $7 million. Total sales in the region rallied 11% year over year to $160 million.

Financials

Magna International had $726 million of cash and cash equivalents as of Dec 31, 2017 compared with $974 million as of Dec 31, 2016. The company had a long-term debt of $3.2 billion as of Dec 31, 2017, up from $2.4 billion recorded on Dec 31, 2016.

At the end of fourth-quarter 2017, Magna International’s cash flow from operations was $1.4 billion in comparison to $1.7 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of prior year.

Capital Deployment

The company’s board of directors has announced a quarterly dividend of 20% to 33 cents per share for the fourth quarter. This dividend is payable on Mar 23, 2018, to shareholders of record as of Mar 9, 2018.

During the quarter, Magna International repurchased 6.7 million shares for $366 million. In 2017, it repurchased total of 26.2 million for $1.27 billion and paid a total cash dividend of $400 million.

Outlook

For 2018, the company expects light-vehicle production in North America to be around 17.4 million units. For Europe, it is expected to be in the range of 22.3-22.4 million compared with the previous anticipation of 22.3 million. Moreover, Magna International anticipates total sales in the range of $39.3-$41.5 billion, which includes Complete Vehicle sales in the band of $6-$6.4 billion.

Income tax rate is projected in the range of 22-23%. Also, capital spending is anticipated to be approximately $1.8 billion.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Magna International has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few better-ranked stocks in the auto space are General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) , Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ:GNTX) and Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) AG (OTC:VLKAY) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

General Motors has an expected long-term growth rate of 8.4%. In the last six months, shares of the company have gained 15.3%.

Gentex has an expected long-term growth rate of 9.7%. In the last six months, shares of the company have gained 33.7%.

Volkswagen has an expected long-term growth rate of 18.7%. Shares of the company have rallied 33.4% in the past six months.

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