Arrow Electronics Reports Third-Quarter Results

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Arrow Electronics, Inc. today reported third-quarter 2017 sales of $6.95 billion, an increase of 17% from sales of $5.94 billion in the third quarter of 2016. Third-quarter net income of $135 million, or $1.50 per share on a diluted basis, compared with net income of $118 million, or $1.28 per share on a diluted basis, in the third quarter of 2016. Excluding certain items1, net income would have been $163 million, or $1.82 per share on a diluted basis, in the third quarter of 2017, compared with net income of $143 million, or $1.56 per share on a diluted basis, in the third quarter of 2016.

“We are capitalizing on tremendous growth opportunities for the business, and are delivering successful outcomes to both our customers and suppliers. Our ability to provide solutions spanning from sensor to sunset of electronic products’ lifecycles is unmatched in the distribution and the broader technology industries,” said Michael J. Long, chairman, president, and chief executive officer. “Our third straight quarter of record results highlights our leadership position.”

Global components third-quarter sales of $4.86 billion grew 25% year over year. Americas components sales grew 24 percent year over year. Asia-Pacific components sales grew 24% year over year. Europe components sales grew 25% year over year. Sales in the region, as adjusted, grew 19% year over year. Global components third-quarter operating income grew 21% year over year and grew 20% year over year excluding amortization of intangibles expense. “As we expected, we have started to capture leverage on our market share gains as evidenced by our accelerating profit growth,” said Mr. Long.

Global enterprise computing solutions third-quarter sales of $2.09 billion grew 3% year over year. Europe enterprise computing solutions sales grew 16% year over year. Sales in the region, as adjusted, grew 11% year over year. Americas enterprise computing solutions sales declined 2% year over year. Global enterprise computing solutions third-quarter operating income declined 1% year over year and declined 2% year over year excluding amortization of intangibles expense. “Continued growth in our infrastructure software and cloud portfolio along with growth in servers drove sales higher this quarter, and we remain confident in our strategy to return to profitable growth in enterprise computing solutions,” added Mr. Long.

“Third-quarter cash flow from operations was $135 million. We made substantial investments to support our rapid growth this year, and our disciplined approach to working capital management allowed us to start seeing significant cash returns on those investments,” said Chris Stansbury, senior vice president and chief financial officer. “We remain committed to returning excess cash to shareholders. During the third quarter we returned approximately $25 million to shareholders through our stock repurchase program. We had approximately $384 million of remaining authorization under our share repurchase program at the end of the third quarter.”

Nine-Month Results

In the first nine months of 2017, sales of $19.18 billion increased 10% from sales of $17.38 billion in the first nine months of 2016. Net income for the first nine months of 2017 was $348 million, or $3.87 per share on a diluted basis, compared with net income of $358 million, or $3.87 per share on a diluted basis in the first nine months of 2016. Excluding certain items1, net income would have been $455 million, or $5.06 per share on a diluted basis, in the first nine months of 2017 compared with net income of $428 million, or $4.63 per share on a diluted basis, in the first nine months of 2016.

1 A reconciliation of non-GAAP adjusted financial measures, including sales, as adjusted, operating income, as adjusted, net income attributable to shareholders, as adjusted, and net income per share, as adjusted, to GAAP financial measures is presented in the reconciliation tables included herein.

Guidance

“As we look to the fourth quarter, we believe that total sales will be between $7.2 billion and $7.6 billion, with global components sales between $4.75 billion and $4.95 billion, and global enterprise computing solutions sales between $2.45 billion and $2.65 billion. As a result of this outlook, we expect earnings per share on a diluted basis, to be in the range of $1.86 to $2.02, and earnings per share on a diluted basis, excluding certain items1, to be in the range of $2.21 to $2.37 per share. Our guidance assumes interest expense will be approximately $44 million. The increase compared to the third quarter is due to slightly higher interest rates on our new long-term borrowings compared to our short-term borrowings, as well as normal, higher intra-quarter borrowings to support our seasonally largest quarter. Our guidance also assumes an average tax rate of 27 to 29 percent and average diluted shares outstanding are expected to be 89 million. We are expecting the average USD-to-Euro exchange rate for the fourth quarter to be approximately $1.18 to €1. At the midpoints of our fourth-quarter guidance ranges, full-year 2017 sales would total approximately $26.58 billion, and would grow 12 percent compared to full-year 2016. Full-year 2017 earnings per share, on a diluted basis, excluding certain items1, would total approximately $7.35 and would grow 11 percent compared to full-year 2016,” said Mr. Stansbury.

About Arrow Electronics

Arrow Electronics is a global provider of products, services and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions. Arrow serves as a supply channel partner for more than 125,000 original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers and commercial customers through a global network of more than 465 locations serving over 90 countries.