Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (PHG) reported strong results for the fourth quarter, as revenues recovered in the Medical Systems Division, and were solid in DAP and CE. This led to the company beating our revenue estimates while increased contribution from LG Philips LCD and a lower-than-expected tax rate led to an earnings surprise. The company has worked to improve its cost structure, as its EBITA margins improved along with strong revenue performance despite the weaker-than-expected dollar.
We were pleasantly surprised by the bounce-back of the Medical Systems Division, which constitutes the second-largest revenue earning segment for the company. This strength has caused us to project an overall revenue growth of 3.25% for 2008 compared to 0% recorded for 2007. While the company is calling for solid growth for the first quarter of 2008, the continued weakness of the U.S. dollar continues to be a concern, and we are not optimistic that the dollar will rebound anytime soon.
Based on these results, we have increased our revenue and earnings estimates for 2008 and 2009 and continue to rate the shares of PHG a Hold. Our price target is for $39 per share over the next six months, or between 8.5x and 9x our new 2008 EPS estimate of $4.52.
Read the full analyst report on PHG.
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