Business Corpus: Zebra Technologies Sprints On Beat-And-Raise Quarterly ReportZebra Technologies, maker of asset tracking systems, on Tuesday trounced first-quarter sales and earnings expectations and guided analysts up for Q2. Shares rose. The post Zebra Technologies Sprints On Beat-And-Raise Quarterly Report appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.

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Zebra Technologies (ZBRA), a maker of asset tracking systems, on Tuesday trounced expectations for first-quarter sales and earnings and guided analysts up for the current quarter, sending its stock higher.

Zebra shares rose 3.8% to 142.65 before the open on the stock market today. The stock has formed a flat base with a buy point of 148.81 over the past eight weeks.

The Lincolnshire, Ill.-based company earned an adjusted $2.56 a share, up 87% year over year, on sales of $977 million, up 13%, in the March quarter. Analysts expected $2.06 and $937 million.

It expects to earn an adjusted $2.20 a share, up 46% year over year, on sales of $990 million, up 11%, in the second quarter, based on the midpoint of its guidance. Wall Street was modeling $2.11 and $953 million.

Zebra makes rugged mobile computers, RFID tracking chips, and bar code scanners and printers enhanced with software and services to enable real-time enterprise visibility of inventory and other assets. It offers products and services for retail, health care, manufacturing, transportation and other industries.

Zebra Ups Full-Year Outlook

"Our first quarter results were driven by strong broad-based market demand for our solutions and excellent operational execution by our team," Zebra Chief Executive Anders Gustafsson said in a news release. "Given our sales and margin outperformance, we are raising our full-year outlook for sales growth, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) margin, and free cash flow. We continue to be laser focused on providing innovative solutions that give our customers a performance edge on the front lines of their business operations."

For the full year, Zebra now expects sales to increase 6% to 9%. The midpoint translates to sales of $3.84 billion. It previously targeted sales growth of 4% to 7% for 2018.

It expects adjusted EBITDA margin of 20% for 2018, compared with 18.6% in 2017. Zebra also expects expects free cash flow to exceed $500 million, compared with its prior target of $475 million.

The post Zebra Technologies Sprints On Beat-And-Raise Quarterly Report appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.