billion, up $244.6 million or 19.3% from $1.27 billion in the same period as last year. Non-GAAP gross profit as a percentage of revenues was flat at 42.5% in the fourth quarter of 2016 and 2015.
GAAP earnings per diluted share decreased 30.2% to $2.08 from $2.98 in 2015. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, when adjusted for various items, decreased 4.6% to $4.52 from $4.74 in the same period last year. See Tables 3 and 4.
Cash flow from operations for the year ended 2016 was $547.4 million, up 40.2% from $390.3 million in the same period last year.
CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION
Conference call to be held February 15, 2017 4:00 p.m. Central time – Dial 866-516-6872 at least 5 minutes before start time. If you are unable to participate on the call, a replay will be available for 30 days by dialing 855-859-2056, access code 49243907. To hear a live simulcast of the call or access the audio archive, visit the investor relations page on www.stericycle.com.
PRESENTATION OF NON-GAAP INFORMATION
This press release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures, as defined in the SEC’s Regulation G. The Company reports its financial results in compliance with GAAP, but believes that also discussing non-GAAP financial measures allows for a better period over period comparison by removing the impact of items that, in management’s view, do not reflect the Company’s underlying operating performance. These measures are also used to evaluate senior management and are a factor in determining their at-risk compensation.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted net income attributable to Stericycle common shareholders, adjusted gross profit, and adjusted revenue growth are described in the Reconciliation of Certain Non-GAAP Measures section of this document.
These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for GAAP financial results, but should be read in conjunction with the unaudited condensed consolidated statement of income and other information presented herein. The non-GAAP financial measures in the press release may differ from similar measures used by other companies. A reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable GAAP measure is included in the accompanying tables.
DISCUSSION OF ADJUSTING ITEMS FOR NON-GAAP MEASURES
For the purpose of evaluating revenues, we present non-GAAP revenues to show the impact of foreign currency, revenues from acquisitions and Manufacturing and Industrial Services (“M&I”). Management reviews and analyzes revenues excluding the effect of foreign currency translation and revenue from acquisitions because we believe this better represents the Company’s underlying business trends, including organic revenue growth. Separate presentation of M&I allows for visibility of a revenue stream that has shown greater volatility than our other service lines.
For the purpose of evaluating operating performance, we present our financials to show the impact of income and expenses in our non-GAAP earnings related to acquisitions. These adjustments include acquisition expense, integration expense, amortization expense, and the change in fair value of contingent consideration. This allows for comparison of period over period results without the impact of acquisition-related expenses.
For the purpose of evaluating operating performance, we additionally present our financials to show the impact of certain expenses and income in our non-GAAP earnings to allow for period over period comparison of financials without the impact of charges that may not occur each year and if so, are due to different factors. For the periods presented, these adjustments include litigation expense, restructuring and plant conversion expenses, contract exit costs, asset impairment charges, and insurance proceeds.
For the purpose of calculating the ultimate impact of our mandatory convertible preferred stock, we show the impact to our EPS by excluding the mandatory convertible preferred stock dividend and using the “if-converted” method of share dilution. This provides the reader insight to how our diluted shares will be affected after these preferred shares are converted to common shares.