Clearfield shares surged 20% on Friday morning: explained here

Shares of Clearfield Inc (NASDAQ: CLFD) are up nearly 20% on Friday after the passive connectivity products maker reported strong results for its fiscal first quarter and raised guidance for the future last night.

Q1 results

Clearfield said its net income printed at $10.4 million that translates to 75 cents per share. In the comparable quarter of last year, it has posted $3.2 million in net income or 23 cents per share. At $51 million, its quarterly revenue surged 89% on a year-over-year basis.

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According to FactSet, experts had forecast 42 cents of EPS on $41.3 million in revenue. The U.S firm attributed outperformance in Q1 to an 81% increase in community broadband revenue.

CLFD is still down about 30% year-to-date. In the earnings press release, CEO Cheri Beranek agreed supply constraints were an ongoing challenge but said:

To address supply constraints, we’ve substantially increased our inventory to meet our customers’ current and future needs. We’ve made significant investments in supply chain initiatives to ensure we can deliver our product on time to our promised ship dates.

Future guidance

For fiscal 2022, Clearfield now forecasts $176 million to $183 million in net sales versus its previous guidance for up to $169 million. The Nasdaq-listed company noted a 53% growth in its quarter-end backlog and reinstated the stock buyback programme on Thursday. CEO Beranek said:

We remain very optimistic about Clearfield’s growth potential as the demand for high-speed broadband, especially fibre-led broadband, continues to be robust, and we continue to make meaningful progress on our ‘Now of Age’ plan objectives.

Clearfield’s new distribution centre scheduled to open this quarter in Minnesota is expected to double its footprint in the U.S.