VeriFone Systems Inc. Earnings Cheat Sheet: Earnings Higher Than Expected

VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE:PAY) reported net income above Wall Street’s expectations for the fourth quarter. VeriFone designs, markets, and services transaction automation systems that enable secure electronic payments among consumers, merchants, and financial institutions.

VeriFone Systems Earnings Cheat Sheet for the Fourth Quarter

Results: Net income for VeriFone Systems Inc. rose to $198.8 million ($1.84 per share) vs. $49.4 million (55 cents per share) in the same quarter a year earlier. This is a more than fourfold rise from the year earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 48.8% to $410.7 million from the year earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: PAY reported adjusted net income of 53 cents per share. By that measure, the company beat the mean estimate of 44 cents per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $406.4 million.

Quoting Management: “We finished 2011 with another year of record revenues and record profit, and are now midway through our multi-year transformation to the world’s leading services-driven payment technology provider,” said Douglas G. Bergeron, Chief Executive Officer. “Looking to 2012, we are very encouraged by the opportunities at hand throughout our growing, global marketplace.”

Key Stats:

The company has enjoyed double-digit year-over-year percentage revenue growth for the past five quarters. Over that span, the company has averaged growth of 29.1%, with the biggest boost coming in the most recent quarter when revenue rose 48.8% from the year earlier quarter.

The company has now seen net income rise in three straight quarters. In the third quarter, net income rose 42.1% and in the second quarter, the figure rose 24.6%.

The company beat estimates last quarter after being in line with expectations in the third quarter with net income of 40 cents per share.

Looking Forward: For the next quarter, analysts are growing pessimistic about the company’s expected results. The average estimate for the first quarter of the next fiscal year is 48 cents per share, dropping from 49 cents a month ago. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has been unchanged at $1.62 a share.

Competitors to Watch: Hypercom Corporation (NYSE:HYC), NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR), Radiant Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:RADS), MICROS Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRS), Global Payment Tech., Inc. (GPTX), USA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAT), PAR Technology Corporation (NYSE:PAR), Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI), and ZUK Elzab SA (ELZ).

(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)