Yahoo Finance Factors Deciding the Fate of Velodyne's (VLDR) Q1 Earnings
Velodyne Lidar, Inc. VLDR is slated to release first-quarter 2021 results on May 10, after the closing bell. In the last reported quarter, Velodyne incurred a loss per share of 64 cents, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 77 cents. The firm reported fourth-quarter 2020 revenues of $18 million, surpassing the consensus estimate of $16 million.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter loss is pegged at 14 cents per share which has widened by three cents in the past 90 days. The consensus mark for first-quarter revenues is pegged at $13.9 million.
Factors at Play
Velodyne’s leading position in the LIDAR market on the back of its first-mover advantage, broad product portfolio, and around 300 customers, including major auto and tech companies, are likely to have positively impacted the firm’s first-quarter performance.
During the March-end quarter, Velodyne entered into several agreements that sparked optimism for the firm. It inked a multi-year sales agreement to provide Puck LITE sensors to Emesent, a world-leader in drone autonomy, lidar mapping and data analytics. The five-year sales agreement with ThorDive to provide Ultra Pack sensors is also likely to have buoyed its top-line growth. During the to-be-reported quarter, Velodyne also entered into a strategic partnership with Beijing Trunk Technology for developing next-generation autonomous heavy trucks and accelerating commercialization of autonomous trucks in China’s logistics market.
Moreover, during the quarter under review, Velodyne and Outsight, a specialist in 3D spatial intelligence, further strengthened their collaboration by developing technologies crucial for smart cities and smart machines, including mobile robots and autonomous vehicles. This is likely to have further boosted Velodyne’s first-quarter margins.
Encouragingly, new projects boosted Velodyne’s pipeline of projects to 194 projects as of Feb 19, 2021, up from the 183 projects reported as on Dec 31, 2020 and 131 projects reported as on Jan 1, 2020.
However, in February, the company’s chairman of the Board and chief marketing officer were replaced, following an investigation in which they were found guilty of misconduct with regard to board and company processes. Though details have not been revealed by the company, this issue raises red flags regarding its corporate governance structure and dampens investors’ confidence. This is likely to have adversely impacted the firm’s first-quarter earnings.
Earnings Whispers
Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Velodyne this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Velodyne — peers of which include Luminar Technologies LAZR, Veoneer, Inc. VNE and ON Semiconductor ON — has an Earnings ESP of -2.44% and carries a Zacks Rank #3 currently.
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