Garmin Ltd (GRMN)

[MWM]

Analysts: Garmin’s 2009 earnings will head south
Kansas City Business Journal - by David Twiddy Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 11:23am CST


Investors will get a chance Wednesday to see what kind of holiday season Garmin Ltd. had — the company is scheduled to release fourth-quarter results before the markets open.

Eighteen Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report quarterly earnings of 95 cents a share, a gain from 78 cents a share during the same period a year before. Revenue is predicted to be $955.7 million, a drop from $1.05 billion.

For the year, analysts estimated that Garmin will report profits of $3.04 a share on $2.84 billion in revenue, both less than a year ago, when the company reported earning $3.51 a share on sales of $3.49 billion.

Garmin (Nasdaq: GRMN), which is based in the Cayman Islands but has its headquarters in Olathe, still is the nation’s largest seller of personal navigation devices. Besides devices for drivers, Garmin also makes GPS-equipped products for outdoors enthusiasts, boaters and pilots.

Although navigational devices remain popular, tough competition has forced Garmin to slash prices. The sector also is feeling pressure from wireless phones, which increasingly include built-in navigational services for a fraction of the cost of a dedicated device.

Garmin has attempted to fight back with a wireless device of its own, the nuvifone, but its initial models have not made much of a splash. The company plans to roll out more advanced versions of the nuvifone, including one using Google Inc.’s Android operating system, later this year.

Last week, Dutch competitor TomTom surprised analysts with a $98.9 million fourth-quarter profit, which was higher than expected, and revenue of $723 million. The company said it saw a 15 percent increase in unit sales and a 21 percent decrease in average selling prices. It expects flat sales in 2010.

Oppenheimer Research analyst Yair Reiner said in a research note that the results actually bode well for Garmin because of the stronger North American device sales after two quarters of declines.

“At the same time, we think TomTom’s weak (average device selling prices) mainly reflect aggressive pricing and low-end product mix in the U.S., whereas Garmin should see substantially better results in both categories,” Reiner wrote.

Read about Garmin’s third-quarter results here.