American Vanguard (AVD) Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Sales Lag

American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) posted profit of $3.4 million or 12 cents per share for the fourth quarter of 2019, down around 54% from $7.4 million or 25 cents it earned a year ago. However, earnings per share for the quarter surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 11 cents.

Revenues were $131 million for the reported quarter, flat year over year. It missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $133 million. Higher sales in the company’s international business were offset by weather-related declines in its domestic sales.

Full-Year Results

Earnings for 2019 were 46 cents per share, down from 81 cents per share a year ago.

Revenues were roughly $468.2 million for the full year, up around 3% year over year. Sales were driven by the addition of sales from newly acquired businesses.

Total U.S. sales fell 6% year over year to around $282.2 million in 2019. The company's international business saw a 21% increase in sales to roughly $186 million for the year.

Segment Highlights

Revenues from American Vanguard’s insecticides business for the full year rose around 2% year over year to roughly $153.4 million.

Sales from the herbicides/soil fumigants/fungicides business went down 1% to around $181.7 million.

Revenues from the other business, including plant growth regulators, climbed 15% to around $67.3 million.

Financials

American Vanguard ended 2019 with cash and cash equivalents of roughly $6.6 million, up around 7% year over year. Long-term debt was roughly $148.8 million, up around 54% year over year.

Outlook

American Vanguard expects its global revenues for 2020 to rise at a low double-digit rate assuming minimal disruption in trade and supply from the coronavirus outbreak and a return to more normal weather patterns. This is expected to be supported by higher corn acreage in the United States, renewed availability of bromacil herbicides, new product introductions and growth in the company’s Latin American businesses.

Price Performance

American Vanguard’s shares are down 24.8% over a year, compared with the 11% decline of the industry it belongs to.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

American Vanguard currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

A few better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE:DQ) , NovaGold Resources Inc. (NYSE:NG) and Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) .

Daqo New Energy has a projected earnings growth rate of 353.7% for 2020. The company’s shares have rallied 71% in a year. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

NovaGold has a projected earnings growth rate of 11.1% for 2020. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #1. The company’s shares have surged 73% in a year.

Barrick Gold currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a projected earnings growth rate of 49% for 2020. The company’s shares have rallied 41% in a year.

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