A. O. Smith (AOS) Q3 Earnings Miss Estimates, Decline Y/Y

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) reported disappointing third-quarter 2019 results wherein both earnings and revenues lagged estimates.

The company’s adjusted earnings were 53 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 54 cents. Also, the bottom line declined from the year-ago figure of 61 cents.

Inside the Headlines

The company’s sales decreased 3.4% year over year to $728.2 million. The decline was primarily attributable to fall of sales in China. Also, the figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $757 million.

A.O. Smith’s sales in North America (comprising U.S. and Canadian water heaters and boilers) increased 5.7% year over year to $514.6 million. Higher sales volumes of water heater and boiler products in the United States proved beneficial for the segment.

Segmental operating earnings jumped 15% year over year to $121.6 million. The improvement was primarily driven by higher sales volumes of water heater and boiler, lower steel costs and incremental profits from acquired Water-Right business.

Quarterly sales in Rest of the World (including China, India and Europe) were down 20% year over year to $220.3 million. The decline was primarily attributable to soft consumer demand and above normal channel inventory levels, particularly in China.

Operating earnings at the segment significantly declined to $4.1 million from $39.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Lower sales in China proved detrimental to the segment’s income.

Share Repurchases

In first nine months of 2019, A.O. Smith repurchased around 4.9 million shares for $230 million. At the end of the quarter, the company had approximately 4.1 million shares remaining under the existing discretionary repurchase authority.

Liquidity & Cash Flow

On Sep 30, 2019, A.O. Smith’s cash and cash equivalents totaled $219.4 million compared with $259.7 million as of Dec 31, 2018.

At the end of the reported quarter, long-term debt was $312.4 million compared with $221.4 million as of Dec 31, 2018.

Guidance

Concurrent with third-quarter results, the company revised guidance for 2019. It expects adjusted earnings to lie in the range of $2.25-$2.28 per share compared with the previous estimation of $2.35-$2.41.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

A.O. Smith currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks in the same space are Cimpress N.V (NASDAQ:CMPR) , Brady Corporation (NYSE:BRC) and Dover Corporation (NYSE:DOV) . While Cimpress sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Brady and Dover carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Cimpress’ earnings surprise in the last reported quarter was a positive 137.04%.

Brady delivered average positive earnings surprise of 9.68% in the trailing four quarters.

Dover pulled off average positive earnings surprise of 6.70% in the trailing four quarters.

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