Amphenol’s APH first-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings of 52 cents per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 49%. The figure increased 48.6% year over year.Net sales increased 27.7% year over year to $2.377 billion and beat the consensus mark by 103.5%. Organically, net sales increased 23%.The top line benefited from robust growth in the mobile devices, automotive, IT datacom and industrial end-markets.Amphenol Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Amphenol Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Amphenol Corporation QuoteQuarterly DetailsInterconnect Products and Assemblies’ (95.9% of net sales) sales were up 28.2% from the year-ago quarter to $2.28 billion. Moreover, Cable Products and Solutions sales were $97.1 million, up 17% year over year.Gross margin on a GAAP basis expanded 50 basis points (bps) to 30.6% on a year-over-year basis.Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) as a percentage of revenues decreased 200 bps on a year-over-year basis to 11.1%.Adjusted operating margin expanded 250 bps on a year-over-year basis to 19.6%.Segment-wise, Interconnect Products and Assemblies’ operating margin grew 230 bps on a year-over-year basis to 20.6%. Cable Products and Solutions’ operating margin remained unchanged on a year-over-year basis at 0.4%.Balance Sheet and Cash FlowAs of Mar 31, 2021, Amphenol had cash and cash equivalents worth $2.32 billion, higher than $1.70 billion as of Dec 31, 2020.During the quarter, the company purchased 2.4 million shares of its common stock for $153 million, bringing total share repurchases under the 2018 stock repurchase program to 40.3 million shares, or $1.95 billion.In April 2021, the company purchased the remaining authorized amount of common stock under its existing three-year, $2 billion stock repurchase plan. As a result, on Apr 27, 2021, the company’s board of directors approved a new three-year, $2 billion open market stock repurchase plan.The company also paid dividends of $87 million, resulting in total capital returned to shareholders during the first quarter of $240 million.AcquisitionsAmphenol completed the acquisitions of Euromicron and Cabelcon in the reported quarter. Based in Germany and with annual sales of around $25 million, Euromicron is a manufacturer of highly engineered fiber optic interconnect solutions for the mobile networks and IT datacom markets.Based in Denmark with annual sales of around $25 million, Cabelcon is a designer and manufacturer of high-technology connectors and interconnect assemblies primarily for the broadband market.On Apr 7, Amphenol completed the acquisition of MTS Systems, a leading global supplier of advanced test systems, motion simulators and precision sensors. The acquisition is expected to be 5 cents accretive to Amphenol’s earnings per share in the first 12 months after closing.GuidanceAmphenol expects second-quarter 2021 earnings between 53 cents and 55 cents per share, indicating 33% to 38% year-over-year growth. Revenues are anticipated between $2.415 and $2.475 billion, indicating 22-25% year-over-year growth.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter earnings is pegged at 51 cents, implying 24.3% growth from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter. The consensus mark for revenues stands at $2.28 billion, suggesting 14.6% growth from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.Zacks Rank & Stocks to ConsiderCurrently, Amphenol has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are AMETEK AME, CDW Corporation CDW and Cognex Corporation CGNX, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.AMETEK, CDW and Cognex are scheduled to report their first quarter results on May 4, 5 and 6, respectively.Zacks Names “Single Best Pick to Double”From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.You know this company from its past glory days, but few would expect that it’s poised for a monster turnaround. Fresh from a successful repositioning and flush with A-list celeb endorsements, it could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in a little more than 9 months and Nvidia which boomed +175.9% in one year.Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report AMETEK, Inc. (AME): Free Stock Analysis Report Cognex Corporation (CGNX): Free Stock Analysis Report Amphenol Corporation (APH): Free Stock Analysis Report CDW Corporation (CDW): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research