KEMET Corp. (NYSE: KEM) first quarter 2020 results beat Wall Street’s predictions and sent the stock up 7% in the pre-market trading hours. KEMET’s non-GAAP EPS of $0.82 was up 49% versus prior year first fiscal quarter, and exceeded the consensus outlook of $0.74. Sales of $345.2 million were up 5.4% year-over-year, and surpassed the analysts’ expectations of $343.58 million.
“While we are not immune to many of the factors affecting the passive component space, we are insulated to some degree by our Ceramics product line that focuses on high capacitance large case ceramics where the market remains tight, and by our growing Polymer product line,” said CEO William Lowe Jr.
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Commenting on the outlook, he added, “As we look forward to the rest of our fiscal year, we expect adjusting inventory levels in the distribution channel, a slowdown in the automotive segment and Europe in general. However, going forward we expect to hold our gross margin in a similar range to this quarter from 33.5% to 35.0%, supported by our structural changes.”
In a separate announcement, the company said its Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share. The dividend will be paid on August 26, 2019, to shareholders of record as of August 15, 2019.
Shares of KEMET have given a positive return of 15% since the beginning of this year and a negative return of 23% in the trailing 12 months.