Aerojet Rocketdyne (AJRD) Q1 Earnings Lag Estimates, Fall Y/Y

Shares of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. AJRD depreciated 1.8% to reach $47.60 on Apr 27, reflecting investor skepticism following the company's first-quarter results.

The company reported first-quarter 2021 earnings per share (EPS) of 22 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 46 cents by a wide margin. The bottom line also plunged 40.5% year over year from the 37 cents reported in the year-ago quarter.

Operational Performance

The company’s quarterly revenues of $496.1 million improved 4.2% from the year-ago quarter’s $476.1 million. The top line, however, lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $510 million. This year-over-year increase in net sales was primarily led by a rise in the Aerospace and Defense segment sales.

Aerojet Rocketdyne’s backlog at the end of first-quarter 2021 totaled $5.3 billion, lower than the $6.7 billion witnessed at the end of 2020. Of this, funded backlog amounted to $3 billion.

Total operating expenses flared up 7.5% to $450.3 million in the first quarter. Meanwhile, operating income of $45.8 million declined 19.8% from the prior-year period’s $57.1 million.

Segmental Performance

Aerospace & Defense: Revenues at this segment improved 4.4% year over year to $495.5 million from the previous year’s $474.4 million.

Real Estate: The segment generated revenues of $0.6 million compared with the year-ago quarter’s reported revenues of $1.7 million.

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. Quote

Financial Update

Aerojet Rocketdyne exited the first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $503.7 million, down from $1,149.5 million as of Dec 31, 2020.

Long-term debt amounted to $317.4 million, down from $324.4 million as of Dec 31, 2020.

Operating cash outflow from continuing operations summed $69.4 million as of Mar 31, 2021, compared with the cash outflow of $17.1 million in the year-ago period.

Free cash outflow at the end of the reported quarter was $73.2 million compared with the prior year’s $20.1million.

Zacks Rank

Aerojet Rocketdyne currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Defense Releases

Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT delivered first-quarter 2021 earnings of $6.56 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.32.

Hexcel Corporation HXL reported first-quarter 2021 loss of 10 cents per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 16 cents.

Raytheon Technologies Corporation’s RTX first-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings per share of 90 cents outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 88 cents.

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