STR Holdings (STRI) impressed Wall St after the bell today smashing estimates and guiding higher. The stock is up about 4% in after hours trading after the company reported an EPS of .42/share which is nearly double the analyst estimates. Revenues also came in higher than estimates at $80 million vs the analyst estimate of $69 million. While that’s only a 6% improvement in revenues over the year ago quarter, it’s a huge EPS bump of nearly 200%.
STR is also guiding higher and sees Q1 sales about inline with what they reported this quarter at $77 – 81 million (vs analyst estimate of $66 million. They see Q1 EPS of .23 – .25 vs the estimate of .14/share. For the full year 2010, they estimate sales of $310 – 330 million and EPS of $1.05 – 1.10/share. Wall St estimates call for $314 million in revenue and an EPS of $1.00.
All in all, a very strong quarter but one that was aided by the coming reductions in Germany and Italy as well as a mild winter in Europe. CEO Dennis Jilot commented, “Our revenue grew sequentially by 42.3% as expected reductions to solar subsidies in Germany and Italy and a favorably mild winter in Europe drove stronger-than-anticipated demand during the quarter. As the only encapsulant provider with manufacturing and distribution capabilities in North America, Europe and Asia, STR’s global footprint continues to be a key differentiator for us. This quarter, utilization of our Malaysian plant enabled us to increase our market penetration in Asia, including an increase in sales volume in China. Gross margin improved to 43.8%, a 550 basis point expansion from the third quarter of 2009.”
Technically, shares of STRI look very strong having broke out of a cup with handle base on Tuesday and clearing all time highs today.