Johnson Controls (JCI) Q4 Earnings In Line, Improve Y/Y (Revised)

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) posted adjusted earnings of 87 cents per share in fourth-quarter fiscal 2017 (ended Sep 30, 2017), which came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Moreover, earnings increased 14% from 76 cents per share registered in fourth-quarter fiscal 2016. For full-year 2017, adjusted earnings came in at $2.60 per share, reflecting an increase of 13% from 2016.

Operational Update

Johnson Controls reported revenues of $8.14 billion, almost in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Adjusted revenues in fourth-quarter 2016 came in at $7.85 billion.

For full-year 2017, adjusted revenues came in at $30.1 billion, reflecting an increase of 2% from 2016.

Cost of sales increased to $5.62 billion from $6.25 billion in the year-ago quarter. Gross profit increased to $2.5 billion from $1.7 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Selling, general and administrative expenses in fiscal fourth quarter totaled $1.25 billion, decreasing from the prior-year quarter figure of $1.55 billion.

Segment Results

Building Efficiency: This segment’s revenues came in at $6 billion, down 1% from the year-ago level. Organic sales increased 1%, driven by growth in product sales.

Quarter-end backlog increased 4% year over year. Orders, excluding M&A and adjusted for foreign exchange increased 2% year over year. Segment EBITA increased 5% year over year to $904 million.

Power Solutions: Revenues at the Power Solutions segment increased 18% to $2.13 billion. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange and higher lead pass-through costs, organic sales rose 9% year over year. Segment EBITA came in at $431 million, reflecting an increase of 22.8% from the year-ago quarter.

Financial Position

Johnson Controls had cash and cash equivalents of $321 million as of Sep 30, 2017, decreasing from $579 million as of Sep 30, 2016. Long-term debt escalated to $12 billion in the quarter from $11.1 billion as of Sep 30, 2016.

In the reported quarter, the company repurchased 5.5 million shares for $225 million.

Guidance

Johnson Controls provided guidance for fiscal 2018. Fiscal 2018 adjusted EPS before special items is projected to be in the range of $2.75 to $2.85, reflecting an increase of 6-10% year over year.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Johnson Controls currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A few better-ranked stocks in this space are Navistar International Corporation (NYSE:NAV) , Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) and PACCAR Inc. (NASDAQ:PCAR) , each sporting a Zacks Rank#1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Navistar has an expected long-term growth rate of 5%.

Cummins has an expected long-term growth rate of 12.1%.

PACCAR has an expected long-term growth rate of 10%.

(We are reissuing this article to correct a mistake. The original article, issued Thursday, November 9, 2017, should no longer be relied upon.)

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