ePlus reports Q1 adjusted EPS $1.13, consensus $1.17

Reports Q1 revenue $544.5M, consensus $555.23M. “We continued to see strong growth in security and services overall with our managed services up 28%. For many years we have been building strong services and recurring revenue streams, in part to offset headwinds created by the increase in netted down revenues and ratable recognition of sales, both to build a more consistent financial model, but also to deliver the solutions that customers demand with today’s advanced technologies,” said Mark Marron, president and CEO of ePlus. We are seeing strong customer interest in our AI Ignite program and discovery services. While these create nominal current revenue, they also are key to locking in future business opportunities and securing customer mindshare in this fast moving technology solution. Given a hard compare, with last year’s first quarter growth of 25% due to supply chain easing, our first quarter net sales were down 5.2% and gross billings were down 1%. Both the revenue and gross billings decline year over year is attributable to a more normalized supply chain, the absorption of prior purchases by our customers, product mix, and the ratable trend as noted above. We do not see any long-term diminished demand for our products and services and our full year guidance remains unchanged.” Marron continued, “We ended the quarter with a strong cash position of $350 million, providing ePlus the resources to invest in organic growth initiatives, continue our track record of strategic acquisitions, and increase shareholder returns through share repurchases.”