Analyst: Ingram Beats Q4 Estimates, Gains Market Share

Ingram Micro shares fell nearly 3 percent Friday morning despite solid fourth-quarter financial results from the distributor.

Ingram earned $107.0 million, or 64 cents per share, on revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter ended Jan. 2, 2010. The results compare with a $564.3 million loss in the fourth quarter last year, or $3.48 per share, on sales of $8.68 billion.

The company beat Wall Street estimates for both earnings and revenue in the recently ended quarter, but shares were off 55 cents to $17.97 Friday morning.

Ingram Micro has regained some market share it lost to competitors, according to Brian Alexander, managing director of equity research at Raymond James & Associates.

"Strong sequential growth is reflective of improved IT demand (even in Europe) as well as market-share gains. Recall, Ingram has become more aggressive to regain share it lost in 2009, although we sense its pricing has gone from passive to reasonable, as opposed to going from reasonable to irrational," Alexander wrote in a note Friday morning. "We also note that market-share gains are not coming at the expense of profitability, and operating margins of 1.64 percent beat our 1.48 percent estimate."

Ingram's results illustrate a recovering economy in North America, according to CEO Greg Spierkel, who noted that the company delivered its highest sequential sales growth in seven years.

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