Another impressive quarter put a little squeeze on the shorts. I’m surprised that investors continue to short this stock and this management team. I’m not saying it will never be a short but you better have a catalyst. BYI beating yet another quarter, particularly in an environment where everyone else is lowering guidance, is not exactly the kind of catalyst to short.
- I wish I had put out a long call ahead of this quarter but I think there is still upside in this stock. Take a look at the quadrant chart. Management has certainly put in an impressive 2 year performance, operating the company mostly in the sweet spot. Since Q1 2006, BYI consistently generated sales growth in excess of inventory growth and improved gross margin in all but 2 quarters. Gross margin has increased the last 3 quarters. In Q2, gross margin expanded over 400bps and sales grew slightly faster than inventory. One could argue that inventories are catching up to sales but BYI does have an impressive backlog. I for one am not worried about the inventory picture.
- BYI reported EPS of $0.54, slightly ahead of consensus. I tend to watch the SG&A line pretty closely to make sure companies are still investing but also to monitor how they are managing earnings. Most companies maintain the ability to manipulate SG&A somewhat. Making the quarter because of a big SG&A drawdown is not typically a good sign. BYI actually spent 17% more on SG&A than last year, a good sign in my opinion. This was a solid revenue and gross margin quarter.
- Turning to the 2nd chart, the deferred revenue picture looks solid. Deferred revenue stayed at roughly the $183 million level experienced in Q1 2008. Moreover, deferred revenue growth YoY remained above sales growth with a spread between the two of 18%. The high level of deferred revenue and strong backlog provides visibility on the upcoming revenue picture. Significant profit growth should continue to “Reign O’er” BYI.