Littelfuse Sees Q4 EPS Above Market Estimates - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Littelfuse, Inc. (LFUS) on Thursday said it expects fourth -quarter adjusted earnings to be in the range of $1.45 to $1.59 per share, excluding special items.

Total sales are expected to be in the range of $270 million to $280 million. This represents approximately 24 percent revenue growth at the midpoint. Excluding acquisitions, the effects of the e-house business sale and the fourth quarter 2015 extra week, this represents approximately 3 percent revenue growth at the midpoint.

On average, six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect earnings of $1.42 per share on sales of $273.23 million for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

In its third quarter, net earnings were $30.80 million or $1.35 per share, significantly higher than last year's $11.32 million or $0.50 per share. Excluding special items, adjusted earnings were $1.87 per share, representing a 31 percent increase.

Sales for the third quarter of 2016 were $280.33 million, a 30 percent increase from last year's $215.51 million. Excluding revenue from acquisitions, sales increased 2 percent, led by strong growth in the automotive segment partially offset by end market softness in the industrial segment.

Analysts expected third-quarter earnings of $1.87 per share on sales of $278.26 million.

Gordon Hunter, chief executive officer, said, "We're very pleased with our third quarter performance, led by our electronics and automotive segments as well as a sustained reduction in our tax rate. While we continued to face end market weakness across our industrial business, we took further action this quarter to improve profitability. On the acquisition front, we're ahead of our initial expectations with the PolySwitch integration, and off to a strong start with the ON product portfolio."