BYI: IN THE SWEET SPOT OF QUADROPHENIA

08/21/08 06:59PM EDT
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.

Operating mostly in the sweet spot
Unearned revenue remains at high levels and the YoY increase exceeds sales growth
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