=Sonos (SONO) reported earnings on Thur 15 Nov 2018 (a/h)

Sonos beats by $0.08, beats on revs; guides Q1 and FY19 EBITDA and revenue above consensus

• Reports Q4 (Sep) loss of $0.02 per share, $0.08 better than the single analyst estimate of ($0.10); revenues rose 27.5% year/year to $272.9 mln vs the $248.66 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. Beam exceeded their forecast, capturing the number 1 position by dollar share with 8% of the U.S. soundbar category in the third calendar quarter according to NPD , despite only being launched in mid-July. Beam's success drove home theater speaker products revenue up 63% in fiscal Q4, year-over-year, and contributed significantly to our Q4 revenue outperformance
• Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $485-495 mln vs. $469.41 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus; EBITDA +1-6% to $66-69 mln vs. $61M estimates.
• Co issues upside guidance for FY19, sees FY19 revs of $1.25-1.275 bln vs. $1.21 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus; EBITDA +20-27% to $83-88 mln. "Long-term target continues to be 42-44%, a level we've achieved regularly over the past thirteen years. As previously discussed, we anticipate lower gross margins (40-41%) in FY2019 as a result of industry-wide component shortages (primarily multi-layer ceramic capacitors or MLCCs) and our new increased product cadence which shifts the product mix to those products earlier in their life cycle when the gross margin is lower. Due to normal holiday season promotional activities, we expect Q1 gross margin to be lower than the full year range."