American Superconductor (AMSC) to report earnings tomorrow: here is what to expect

What happened

American Superconductor, a power resiliency solutions provider, reports earnings Wednesday afternoon. Last quarter it beat analysts' revenue expectations with $94.07 million, up 30% year on year, but significantly missed analysts' profit-per-share estimates and gave weak guidance. Analysts expect revenue growth of 33.2% this quarter.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

The company beat revenue expectations but missed profit-per-share estimates and gave weak guidance, which means sales growth has not translated into stronger profit per sale. If the coming quarter shows the same pattern, investors may question whether the 33.2% expected revenue growth is as valuable as it looks.

Analyst inference

American Superconductor rarely misses Wall Street's revenue estimates, and analysts reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they expect the business to stay the course. Peer Bloom Energy grew revenue 138% year on year while Nextpower grew 22.5%, so demand in renewable energy appears mixed across companies.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. Watch whether reported revenue meets the 33.2% year-on-year growth analysts expect this quarter, a step up from the 20.9% increase recorded in the same quarter last year. Confirmed
2. Watch whether profit-per-share results and next-quarter guidance close the gap left by last quarter's significant miss, a sign that revenue growth is converting into profit per sale. Proposed
3. Watch whether the company repeats its pattern of beating revenue estimates but missing profit estimates, which would suggest costs are rising faster than sales and could weigh on cash available. Analyst inference

Evidence

• stockstory.org