Daktronics (NASDAQ:DAKT) Is Posting Promising Earnings But The Good News Doesn’t Stop There

Investors signalled that they were pleased with Daktronics, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:DAKT) most recent earnings report, with a strong stock price reaction. Looking deeper at the numbers, we found several encouraging factors beyond the headline profit numbers.

Check out our latest analysis for Daktronics

Zooming In On Daktronics' Earnings

Many investors haven't heard of the accrual ratio from cashflow, but it is actually a useful measure of how well a company's profit is backed up by free cash flow (FCF) during a given period. The accrual ratio subtracts the FCF from the profit for a given period, and divides the result by the average operating assets of the company over that time. You could think of the accrual ratio from cashflow as the 'non-FCF profit ratio'.

As a result, a negative accrual ratio is a positive for the company, and a positive accrual ratio is a negative. That is not intended to imply we should worry about a positive accrual ratio, but it's worth noting where the accrual ratio is rather high. To quote a 2014 paper by Lewellen and Resutek, "firms with higher accruals tend to be less profitable in the future".

Over the twelve months to January 2021, Daktronics recorded an accrual ratio of -0.24. That indicates that its free cash flow quite significantly exceeded its statutory profit. Indeed, in the last twelve months it reported free cash flow of US$41m, well over the US$9.59m it reported in profit. Given that Daktronics had negative free cash flow in the prior corresponding period, the trailing twelve month resul of US$41m would seem to be a step in the right direction. However, that's not all there is to consider. The accrual ratio is reflecting the impact of unusual items on statutory profit, at least in part.

That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

The Impact Of Unusual Items On Profit

Daktronics' profit was reduced by unusual items worth US$2.8m in the last twelve months, and this helped it produce high cash conversion, as reflected by its unusual items. This is what you'd expect to see where a company has a non-cash charge reducing paper profits. It's never great to see unusual items costing the company profits, but on the upside, things might improve sooner rather than later. We looked at thousands of listed companies and found that unusual items are very often one-off in nature. And that's hardly a surprise given these line items are considered unusual. If Daktronics doesn't see those unusual expenses repeat, then all else being equal we'd expect its profit to increase over the coming year.

Our Take On Daktronics' Profit Performance

In conclusion, both Daktronics' accrual ratio and its unusual items suggest that its statutory earnings are probably reasonably conservative. Based on these factors, we think Daktronics' underlying earnings potential is as good as, or probably even better, than the statutory profit makes it seem! If you'd like to know more about Daktronics as a business, it's important to be aware of any risks it's facing. While conducting our analysis, we found that Daktronics has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.

After our examination into the nature of Daktronics' profit, we've come away optimistic for the company. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. For example, many people consider a high return on equity as an indication of favorable business economics, while others like to 'follow the money' and search out stocks that insiders are buying. While it might take a little research on your behalf, you may find this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying to be useful.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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