What's In The Cards For Northwest Pipe's (NWPX) Q2 Earnings?

Northwest Pipe Company (NASDAQ:NWPX) is slated to report second-quarter 2019 results after market close on Aug 1.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the second-quarter revenues is pegged at $62 million, suggesting a year-over-year increase of a whopping 113.7%. Notably, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings per share is pegged at 39 cents, a turnaround from the loss of 53 cents reported in the prior-year quarter.

Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Key Factors to Consider

Northwest Pipe is poised to gain from strong backlog, favorable market conditions and solid bidding activity in the to-be-reported quarter. Further, ongoing strength in revenues and improved gross margins are likely to stoke growth.

The Ameron acquisition has added significant strength to the company, and is expected to enhance the earnings potential for the April-June quarter. Northwest Pipe expects elevated backlog in the second quarter, based on its current bidding schedule. Additionally, water-reuse programs have generated new opportunities in the California market. As a result, the company projects strong bidding activity in the days ahead, representing 8,000 tons.

Northwest Pipe is well placed to benefit from water-transmission projects in the Texas market, such as the Houston project and Bois d'Arc Reservoir. Northwest Pipe has been the successful bidder in multiple Houston segments, representing more than 15,000 tons of pipes. The company will bid 35,000 tons of pipes for additional segments of the project throughout the year.

This April, there was a fire at the company’s Saginaw coating facility in its Texas plant. The timing of expenses and insurance coverage from the mishap may dampen the second-quarter results. However, Northwest Pipe expects to restart the facility by efficiently managing costs in the near future. Besides, the company is also focused on driving cost reduction and efficiencies at all levels of its business.

Northwest Pipe Company Price and EPS Surprise

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show a beat for Northwest Pipe this earnings season as it does not possess the key components. This is because a stock needs to have a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. This is the case here as you will see below:

Earnings ESP: Earnings ESP for Northwest Pipe is 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Northwest Pipe currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Notably, we caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Strong Sell) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Share Price Performance

Over the past year, Northwest Pipe’s shares have appreciated around 25.2%, outperforming the industry’s loss of 20.6%.

Stocks Worth a Look

Here are a few stocks that you may want to consider, as our model shows these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:

Sealed Air Corporation (NYSE:SEE) has an Earnings ESP of +1.34% and carries a Zacks Rank of 2, at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) , another Zacks #2 Ranked stock, has an Earnings ESP of +0.56%.

Terex Corporation (NYSE:TEX) has an Earnings ESP of +1.56% and carries a Zacks Rank #3, at present.

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