Zebra Technologies Announces Record Sales, Earnings for 4Q, FY 2013

Zebra Technologies Corporation announced 2013 fourth quarter diluted earnings per share of a record $0.82, including exit, restructuring and acquisition costs that reduced earnings by $0.09 per share. Earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2012 totaled $0.68. Net sales for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2013, increased 12.4% to a record $284,539,000 from $253,179,000 for the fourth quarter of 2012.

“Effective execution of a proven growth strategy and an improving business environment led to strong performance across the breadth of Zebra’s solutions, geographic regions and industries served,” said Anders Gustafsson, Zebra’s CEO. “The success of our actions is generating an improved business pipeline with customers in retail, healthcare and manufacturing. We are expanding into new markets by extending our reach in emerging geographic regions and entering new industries, with a stream of innovative products and solutions that address critical business needs.”

For the full year, earnings from continuing operations for 2013 totaled $2.63 per share, including acquisition and exit and restructuring costs that reduced earnings by $0.17 per share. For 2012, earnings from continuing operations were $2.35 per share, including acquisition, exit and restructuring costs and an asset impairment charge that reduced earnings by $0.23 per share. Net sales increased 4.2% to a record $1,038,159,000 for 2013 from $996,168,000 for 2012.

As of Dec. 31, 2013, Zebra had $415,795,000 in cash and investments, and no long-term debt. Net inventories were $121,023,000, and net accounts receivable were $176,917,000.

Discussion and Analysis – Fourth Quarter

Net sales growth of 12.4% included sales growth in North America, Asia Pacific and the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. The higher sales occurred across all product and service categories. The operations of Hart Systems, which the company acquired in December 2013, had no material effect on 2013 fourth quarter financial results. Gross profit increased 13.3% for the fourth quarter of 2013 over the same period of the prior year. Gross profit was 49.6% of sales for the 2013 fourth quarter and 49.2% for the prior-year period. The increase is primarily due to higher volumes.

During the fourth quarter of 2013, Zebra returned $4,643,000 to shareholders through the repurchase of 88,100 shares of Zebra Technologies Corporation Class A Common Stock at a weighted average price of $52.70 per share. At December 31, 2013, the company had 665,475 shares remaining in its stock buyback authorization, and 50,349,546 shares of common stock were outstanding.

Zebra announced its financial forecast for the first quarter of 2014. Net sales are expected within a range of $276,000,000 to $286,000,000. Diluted earnings per share are expected within a range of $0.77 to $0.87.