Stanley falls behind in Q4

Stanley Black & Decker announced its full-year and fourth-quarter financial results, and "challenging" appeared to be the operative word.

"We are pleased with our full year financial results, having achieved 6% organic growth and 10% earnings per share growth amidst a very challenging operating environment," said chairman and CEO John Lundgren. "By maintaining our focus on innovation and controlling key operational levers such as price, cost and product mix, we delivered noteworthy operating leverage despite significant foreign currency headwinds. We concluded 2015 with a solid fourth quarter, expanding margins, generating significant free cash flow and posting positive organic growth in the face of ongoing weakness in some key markets."

For the full year, revenues of $11.2 billion reflected 6% organic growth offset by a 7% currency impact, with an end result that was below the previous year's $11.3 billion in revenue.

Net earnings for the year came in at $883.7 million, up from $760.9 million in 2014.

For the quarter, revenues of $2.8 billion represented a 5% decrease year-over-year. However, a 1% increase in price was offset by a 6% decrease owing to currency translations.

Net earnings for the quarter came out ahead as well, however, up from $145.8 million to $265.5 million.

The company also provided its 2016 guidance, with a full-year diluted EPS of $6.00 to $6.20 on a GAAP basis.

"As we look forward, we believe we are well positioned to manage through a continued difficult environment by leveraging our world-class franchises and brands to deliver solid organic growth and strong free cash flow while maintaining our disciplined and shareholder friendly approach to capital allocation," added Lundgren.