Here's Why We Think Gilat Satellite Networks (NASDAQ:GILT) Is Well Worth Watching

It's only natural that many investors, especially those who are new to the game, prefer to buy shares in 'sexy' stocks with a good story, even if those businesses lose money. But the reality is that when a company loses money each year, for long enough, its investors will usually take their share of those losses.

In the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, my choice may seem old fashioned; I still prefer profitable companies like Gilat Satellite Networks (NASDAQ:GILT). While that doesn't make the shares worth buying at any price, you can't deny that successful capitalism requires profit, eventually. In comparison, loss making companies act like a sponge for capital - but unlike such a sponge they do not always produce something when squeezed.

See our latest analysis for Gilat Satellite Networks

Gilat Satellite Networks's Improving Profits

In the last three years Gilat Satellite Networks's earnings per share took off like a rocket; fast, and from a low base. So the actual rate of growth doesn't tell us much. Thus, it makes sense to focus on more recent growth rates, instead. Like a firecracker arcing through the night sky, Gilat Satellite Networks's EPS shot from US$0.18 to US$0.37, over the last year. You don't see 102% year-on-year growth like that, very often.

Careful consideration of revenue growth and earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margins can help inform a view on the sustainability of the recent profit growth. Unfortunately, Gilat Satellite Networks's revenue dropped 11% last year, but the silver lining is that EBIT margins improved from 5.9% to 9.0%. That's not ideal.

While it's always good to see growing profits, you should always remember that a weak balance sheet could come back to bite. So check Gilat Satellite Networks's balance sheet strength, before getting too excited.

Are Gilat Satellite Networks Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

I always like to check up on CEO compensation, because I think that reasonable pay levels, around or below the median, can be a sign that shareholder interests are well considered. I discovered that the median total compensation for the CEOs of companies like Gilat Satellite Networks with market caps between US$200m and US$800m is about US$1.8m.

Gilat Satellite Networks offered total compensation worth US$920k to its CEO in the year to December 2018. That comes in below the average for similar sized companies, and seems pretty reasonable to me. CEO remuneration levels are not the most important metric for investors, but when the pay is modest, that does support enhanced alignment between the CEO and the ordinary shareholders. I'd also argue reasonable pay levels attest to good decision making more generally.

Is Gilat Satellite Networks Worth Keeping An Eye On?

Gilat Satellite Networks's earnings per share have taken off like a rocket aimed right at the moon. Such fast EPS growth makes me wonder if the business has hit an inflection point (and I mean the good kind.) Meanwhile, the very reasonable CEO pay reassures me a little, since it points to an absence profligacy. So Gilat Satellite Networks looks like it could be a good quality growth stock, at first glance. That's worth watching. While we've looked at the quality of the earnings, we haven't yet done any work to value the stock. So if you like to buy cheap, you may want to check if Gilat Satellite Networks is trading on a high P/E or a low P/E, relative to its industry.

Of course, you can do well (sometimes) buying stocks that are not growing earnings and do not have insiders buying shares. But as a growth investor I always like to check out companies that do have those features. You can access a free list of them here.

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction

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