Shares of KBR (NYSE: KBR) surged to close 12.1% higher after the company reported Q3 2019 earnings on Wednesday. Analysts had forecast that KBR would earn $0.44 per diluted share, pro forma, in its fiscal third quarter, on sales of $1.41 billion. Instead, the engineering and construction company reported $0.45 per share, and $1.43 billion in sales -- thus beating forecasts on both the top and bottom lines.
KBR reported 12% sales growth in Q3 to $1.4 billion, led by its energy solutions segment, which achieved 31% growth, as well as technology solutions, which grew 19%. The company's government solutions division lagged at 5% growth. Operating profit margins sagged a bit, falling 40 basis points to 7.3%.
Nevertheless, earnings per share managed to eke out a penny's worth of growth, up 2.6% to $0.39 per share, as calculated according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Pro forma earnings (a non-GAAP metric) grew 4.6% to the aforementioned $0.45 per share, beating estimates in the process.
Source Fool.com