AeroVironment Revenue Tumbles as Drone Sales Struggle
December 06 2016 - 7:10PM
Dow Jones News
Drone maker AeroVironment Inc. on Tuesday said it swung to a
loss in its latest quarter and results fell well short of Wall
Street expectations, with revenue slipping 22% as sales in the
company's unmanned-aircraft-systems business fell.
For the company's fiscal second quarter, the unmanned-aircraft
system business, which accounts for the vast majority of sales, saw
sales fall some $15.8 million. For the quarter, the segment
collected some $40.8 million in revenue.
Overall revenue fell 22% to $50.1 million.
Shares of the company fell 9.7% to $26.50 in after-hours
trading.
For the current quarter, the company posted a downbeat forecast,
expecting a per-share loss between 34 cents and 38 cents on revenue
in the range of $50 million and $52 million.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect earnings of 24 cents
on revenue of $75.65 million.
The company backed its previously released annual guidance of
revenue between $260 million and $280 million with per-share
earnings in the range of 20 cents to 35 cents. Analysts surveyed by
Thomson Reuters expected revenue of $263.5 million with profit of
22 cents per share.
The Simi Valley, Calif., company makes unmanned-aircraft systems
and rechargeable-battery technology for electric vehicles.
AeroVironment's small unmanned-aircraft systems have been the main
driver of its business. The company also aims to enter the market
for commercial drone applications.
For the quarter ended Oct. 29, the company posted a loss of $4.2
million, or 18 cents a share, down from a profit of $4.4 million,
or 19 cents a share, a year earlier.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast a per-share loss
of a penny on revenue of $52.2 million.
Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 06, 2016 19:55 ET (00:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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