Zebra Technologies
stock plummeted Tuesday after the automation equipment company lowered its full-year sales outlook and warned of a second-quarter drop in sales.
Zebra Technologies
(ticker: ZBRA) on Tuesday reported net sales of $1.405 billion and adjusted earnings of $3.94 a share for the first quarter, both beating analysts’ expectations but declining from a year ago, according to FactSet.
Shares of Zebra dived 12% to $252.85 in Tuesday morning trading, marking one of the biggest declines in the
S&P 500
for the session. The drop puts Zebra stock on pace for its largest daily percent decrease since November 2022, when it fell 16%, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Over the last 12 months, shares have lost 31%.
Gross margin clocked in at 47.5% for the quarter, rising from 44.5% a year ago, “primarily due to lower premium supply chain costs, partially offset by unfavorable foreign currency changes,” Zebra said in its earnings release.
But the company warned of the impact of a challenging economic environment on its growth.
Zebra projected second-quarter net sales to decline between 9% and 11% from the year-ago quarter. Adjusted earnings are forecast to land between $3.20 and $3.40 a share. Wall Street analysts had penciled in earnings of $4.17 a share for the quarter.
The company also said it expects full-year 2023 net sales to decline between 2% and 6% from 2022, a notable downgrade from its previous guidance of between a 3% decline and 1% increase year over year.
“Our revised full year outlook reflects tighter enterprise customer capex and project deferrals in this uncertain macroeconomic environment and moderating demand through distribution,” said CEO Bill Burns in the earnings release.
Write to Emily Dattilo at [email protected]
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