A. O. Smith Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Sales Decline Y/Y

A. O. Smith Corporation’s AOS fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of 85 cents per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 89 cents. The bottom line decreased 12% on a year-over-year basis.Net sales of $912.4 million also missed the consensus estimate of $952 million. The top line decreased 8% year over year due to lower water heater volumes and decreased sales in China.For 2024, AOS reported net sales of $3.82 billion, which decreased 1% year over year. For the year, the company’s adjusted earnings were $3.73 per share, down 2% year over year.Stay up-to-date with all quarterly releases: See Zacks Earnings Calendar.Segmental DetailsA. O. Smith’s quarterly sales in North America (comprising the United States and Canada operations) decreased 7% year over year to $689.8 million. Our estimate for segmental revenues was $724.0 million. This downtick was caused by lower water heater volumes.Segmental earnings inched down 12.5% year over year to $147.9 million, primarily due to lower water heater volumes.Quarterly sales in the Rest of the World (including China, India and Europe) segment declined 9% year over year at $236.6 million. Our estimate for sales in the segment was $233.1 million. Sales declined due to lower sales in China. Sales in India increased 11% in local currency.The segment’s earnings were $7.8 million, down 70.7% year over year due to lower sales volumes in China.A. O. Smith Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise A. O. Smith Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | A. O. Smith Corporation QuoteAOS’ Margin DetailsA.O. Smith’s cost of sales was $574.3 million, down 7.1% year over year. Selling, general & administrative expenses were $182.0 million, down 1.6%.Gross profit decreased 8.6% year over year to $338.1 million. The gross margin was 37.1% compared with 37.4% in the year-ago period. Interest expenses were $2.4 million, up from $1.1 million from the year-ago quarter.A.O. Smith’s Liquidity & Cash FlowAs of Dec. 31, 2024, AOS’ cash and cash equivalents totaled $239.6 million compared with $339.9 million at the end of December 2023.At the end of the quarter, long-term debt was $183.2 million compared with $117.3 million at the end of December 2023.In 2024, cash provided by operating activities totaled $581.8 million compared with $670.3 million in the year-ago period.AOS’ Share RepurchasesIn 2024, A.O. Smith repurchased 3.8 million shares for $305.8 million. Exiting December 2024, 1.7 million shares were left to be repurchased under the existing share repurchase authorization. In January 2025, AOS’ board boosted the existing share buyback program by authorizing the repurchase of an additional 5 million shares.A.O. Smith’s 2025 OutlookA.O. Smith has issued the sales outlook for 2025. The company expects net sales to be in the range of $3.8-$3.9 billion. It reported sales of $3.82 billion in 2024.Management currently projects adjusted earnings per share to be in the band of $3.60-$3.90. The company reported earnings of $3.63 per share in 2024.AOS’ Zacks RankThe company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Performance of Other CompaniesTetra Tech, Inc. TTEK reported earnings of $0.35 per share in the first quarter fiscal 2025 (ended December 2024), which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.34 . This compares with earnings of $0.28 per share a year ago.Tetra posted revenues of $1.2 billion for the quarter ended December 2024, surpassing the consensus estimate by 8.85%. This compares with year-ago revenues of $1.02 billion. The company has topped the consensus estimate for revenues in each of the last four quarters.Waste Management, Inc. WM reported earnings of $1.70 per share in the fourth quarter of 2024, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.79 . This compares with earnings of $1.74 per share a year ago.WM reported revenues of $5.89 billion for the quarter ended December 2024, surpassing the consensus estimate by 0.18%. This compares with year-ago revenues of $5.22 billion. The company has topped the consensus estimate for revenues in two of the last four quarters.Packaging Corporation of America PKG reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.47 in the fourth quarter of 2024, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.51 by a margin of 2%. The bottom line matched PKG’s guidance and grew 16% year over year.Sales in the fourth quarter rose 10.7% year over year to $2.15 billion due to higher volumes and price/mix in both segments. The top line beat the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>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 Tetra Tech, Inc. (TTEK): Free Stock Analysis Report A. O. Smith Corporation (AOS): Free Stock Analysis Report Waste Management, Inc. (WM): Free Stock Analysis Report Packaging Corporation of America (PKG): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks