Valmont Industries, Inc. VMI registered profits of $22.6 million or $1.06 per share in second-quarter 2020, down from $39.7 million or $1.82 per share in the year-ago quarter. Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings were $2.00 per share for the reported quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.47.
Revenues in the quarter were $688.8 million, down 1.7% year over year. The figure, however, surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $648.8 million. Strong growth in Utility Support Structures was more than offset by reduced sales in the Coatings segment due to the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak.
Segment Highlights
Infrastructure-Related
Sales in the Engineered Support Structures segment fell 2.1% year over year to $253.4 million due to unfavorable currency impacts of $6.1 million.
Sales in the Utility Support Structures segment rose 10.2% year over year to $231.3 million on account of substantially larger volumes from strong market demand, capacity additions and favorable pricing.
Sales in the Coatings segment declined 18.7% year over year to $80 million as higher internal volumes were more than offset by lower external volumes due to the coronavirus outbreak’s effects on end customers and temporary international facility closures.
Agriculture-Related
Sales in the Irrigation unit amounted to $150.6 million, down 3% year over year. Sales in North America were $99 million, down 3.7% year over year. Higher sales of irrigation products and pricing were offset by lower industrial tubing sales.
International irrigation sales fell 1.5% year over year to $51.6 million.
Valmont Industries, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Financial Position
Valmont ended the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $353.3 million, up 37.5% year over year. Long-term debt stood at $778.3 million, up 1.6% year over year.
Cash flows from operating activities were $150.7 million for the year-to-date period (as of Jun 27, 2020), up from $113.4 million for the same period a year ago (as of Jun 29, 2019).
Outlook
The company expects net sales of $680-700 million for third-quarter 2020.It also expects operating profit margins of 8-9% for the third quarter.
Valmont anticipates revenues from the Utility Support Structures segment to increase around 20% year over year for the third quarter.
Price Performance
The company’s shares have lost 14.6% in the past year compared with the industry’s 36.5% decline.
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Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider
Valmont currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Some other top-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Royal Gold, Inc. RGLD, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited AEM andHarmony Gold Mining Company Limited HMY.
Royal Goldhas a projected earnings growth rate of 62.1% for the current year. The company’s shares have gained 13.5% 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.
Agnico Eagle has a projected earnings growth rate of 73.2% for the current year. The stock has gained around 30% in a year. It currently has a Zacks Rank of 1.
Harmony Gold has an expected earnings growth rate of 264.3% for 2020. The company’s shares have rallied 154.8% in the past year.It is presently a Zacks #2 Ranked player.
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