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GIS WORLD STOCK WATCH
Its time again for a quarterly update on earnings to see how your employer, customer, vendor, etc. is doing. From an investors perspective, its not just the improvement in earnings from one quarter or year to the next that’s important, but whether or not the earnings are in line with analysts’ expectations. If earnings are more or less than what is expected, the stock price can suffer or benefit accordingly. Therefore, the table below compares changes in quarterly and annual earnings to help explain recent price changes to the GIS World Stock Index stocks from the end of September 1995 to the beginning of December 1995.
The fall earnings are for the quarter ending September 30 for with one exception: Autodesk Inc., San Rafael, Calif., ends its quarter October 31. As shown by the table, significant disappointments in the earnings occurred with certain stocks, largely explaining previous declines in the index. Specific examples of companies with quarterly earnings that failed to meet expectations and the results to their stock prices follow.
Autodesk posted quarterly earnings of $.38, up $.06 from a year earlier, but down from an expected $.51, and its annual estimates are also revised downward. This has caused Autodesk's stock price to plummet from nearly 44 to under 26 during the aforementioned two-month period.
Landmark Graphics Corp., Houston, Texas, expected to earn $.20 for the quarter, but reported only $.02, and had its stock drop from 28 to 20 over the same period.
MapInfo Corp., Troy, N.Y., along with Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash., is involved in a suit against VISTA Information Solutions Inc. This David v. Goliath scenario may have helped MapInfo's stock price, although earnings estimates and prices faltered during the two month period.
Trimble Navigation Ltd., Sunnyvale, Calif., suffered declining shipment delays. That put pressure on the company's stock, making it fall from 25 to around 20.
Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Ala., despite recent lower quarterly earnings, shows signs of an earnings turnaround soon. Cost cutting measures and new products could begin to raise annual estimates which may have prompted investors to push up the stock price from 12 to 17 during the two month period.
Not all quarterly earnings were unpleasant. Primark is posting favorable earnings and its stock has risen from about 25 to 28 over two months. Analytical Surveys has continued to have steady earnings and its stock price has also remained fairly stable. IITCF, now IITC Holdings, Ltd., sold one of its divisions which resulted in a cash dividend of $8.00 (Cdn.).
GIS WORLD Stock Index Reverses Downward Trend
For November, the GIS Index finishes one percent ahead of the S&P 500 with a 5% monthly increase and a year-to-date increase of 38 percent. Although the index softened the previous two months, the strong monthly performance of two index stocks helped reverse the negative trend. Intergraph posted a 42% gain, and Primark, a recent addition to the index due to GIS consulting services through its Reading, Mass.-based TASC Inc. subsidiary, had a 21 percent increase.
| ANNUAL EARNINGS | QTR EARNINGS | Price | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Symbol | Fiscal Year Est. | Actual Last 12 Mos. | 17 Aug. 1995 Est. | 30 Nov. 1996 Est. | 5-yr Est. Grwth Rt** | Year Ago Sept. | Est. Sept. | Actual Sept. | 29 Sept. | 30 Nov. | PE |
| Analytical Surveys | (ANLT) | NA | 0.40 | NA | NA | NA | 0.10 | NA | 0.14 | 7.50 | 7.25 | 18.1 |
| Autodesk | (ACAD) | Jan.'96 | 1.57 | 2.07 | 1.9 | 21.0% | 0.32 | 0.51 | 0.38 | 43.75 | 35.25 | 22.5 |
| Intera Information Tech. | (IITCF) | NA | -1.72 | NA | NA | NA | 0.00 | NA | NA | 8.50 | 9.37 | NM |
| Intergraph | (INGR) | Dec. '96 | -1.56 | 0.86 | 0.74 | 11.8% | -0.39 | 0.12 | -0.17 | 12.13 | 17.19 | NM |
| Landmark Graphics | (LMRK) | June '96 | 0.84 | 1.57 | 1.38 | 21.3% | -0.06 | 0.26 | 0.02 | 28.19 | 20.00 | 23.8 |
| MapInfo | (MAPS) | Sept. '96 | 0.65 | 0.97 | 0.87 | 32.5% | 0.21 | 0.21 | 0.17 | 20.38 | 19.50 | 30.0 |
| Primark | (PMK) | Dec. '96 | 0.80 | 1.03 | 1.00 | 23.0% | 0.15 | 0.17 | 0.21 | 24.88 | 27.63 | 34.5 |
| Trimble Navigation | (TRMB) | Dec. '96 | 0.65 | 1.04 | 0.89 | 36.7% | 0.19 | 0.25 | 0.20 | 25.25 | 20.38 | 31.4 |
GIS WORLD Inc., February, 1996; pp 102.
(This article was reproduced with permission from GIS WORLD Inc.)