AZZ Lowers Guidance For Fiscal 2018 On Hurricane Impact

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) has provided updated revenue and earnings per share guidance for fiscal 2018, (ending Feb 28, 2018). The company predicts its total revenues and earnings for the fiscal to be lower than prior expectations.

At present, the company expects its revenues to be between $825 million and $885 million compared with the previous guidance of $880 million to $950 million. The company projects its earnings per share to be between $1.80 and $2.30 per share compared with previous guidance of $2.60 to $3.10.

Why This Downward Revision?

The company lowered its projected earnings taking into account various factors. These include the adverse impact of hurricanes Harvey and Irma on its refinery activity, lower electric utility spending in Saudi Arabia, conditions in the U.S. nuclear market with the closure of the VC Summer Nuclear Project and fallout from the Westinghouse Nuclear bankruptcy.

Prospects Look Bright

Despite the drop in earnings guidance for fiscal 2018, the company is well poised to benefit from its completed acquisitions and the ones which are lined up.

The company is implementing much needed changes to improve its operational and financial performance amid market headwinds.

Price Movement

In the last month, AZZ’s gain was 7.7% compared with industry’s 8.9% rally.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

AZZ currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the sector are AGCO Corporation (NYSE:AGCO) , Park-Ohio Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:PKOH) and Terex Corporation (NYSE:TEX) .

AGCO Corporation sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. It pulled off an average positive earnings surprise of 39.7% for the last four quarters. Its 2017 Zacks Consensus Estimate moved up 3% to $3.05, in the last 60 days.

Park-Ohio Holdings, a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, reported an average positive earnings surprise of 3.3% for the last four quarters. Its 2017 Zacks Consensus Estimate moved up 0.6% to $3.23, in the last 60 days.

Terex Corporation, a Zacks Rank #2 stock, reported an average positive earnings surprise of 122.8% for the last four quarters. Its 2017 Zacks Consensus Estimate moved up 17.3% to $1.15, in the last 60 days.

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