L.B. Foster (FSTR) Q4 Earnings Lag Estimates, Revenues Beat
L.B. Foster Company FSTR logged fourth-quarter 2023 loss of 4 cents per share, narrower than the year-ago quarter's loss of $4.09 per share. The figure was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 3 cents.
The company recorded revenues of $134.9 million for the quarter, down around 2% year over year. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $127.7 million. Net sales rose 7.7% organically and fell 9.4% due to divestitures.
New orders were $105.5 million in the reported quarter, down around 23% year over year.
L.B. Foster Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
L.B. Foster Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | L.B. Foster Company Quote
Segment Highlights
Sales from the Rail, Technologies, and Services segment fell around 11% year over year in the reported quarter to $69.3 million, hurt by the divestment of the prestressed concrete railroad tie business. Organic sales went down 4%.
Infrastructure Solutions segment sales were $65.6 million, up roughly 10% year over year. Sales were driven by Precast Concrete Products and Steel Products business units, partly offset by the divestiture of the Precision Measurement Products and Systems business. Organic sales growth was 23.1%.
FY23 Results
Earnings for 2023 were 13 cents per share. This compares with a loss of $4.25 per share a year ago. Net sales rose around 9% year over year to $543.7 million.
Financials
L.B. Foster ended 2023 with cash and cash equivalents of around $2.6 million, down around 11% year over year. Long-term debt was roughly $55.2 million, down roughly 40% year over year.
Cash provided by operating activities was $37.4 million for 2023 with free cash flow of $33 million.
Outlook
FSTR sees adjusted EBITDA in the range of $34-$39 million for 2024. It expects 2024 net sales in the band of $525-$560 million.
Free cash flow for the full year is forecast in the band of $12-$18 million.
Price Performance
L.B. Foster’s shares have rallied 75.1% in the past year compared with the industry’s 3.9% rise.
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks
FSTR currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Better-ranked stocks worth a look in the basic materials space include, Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc. AMR, Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS and Hawkins, Inc. HWKN.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Alpha Metallurgical Resources’ current-year earnings has been revised upward by 8.8% in the past 60 days. AMR delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 24.8%, on average. Its shares are up around 106% in a year. AMR currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The consensus estimate for Carpenter Technology’s current fiscal year earnings is pegged at $4.00, indicating a year-over-year surge of 250.9%. CRS beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters while matching it once, with the average earnings surprise being 12.2%. The company’s shares have gained around 29% in the past year. CRS currently carries a Zacks Rank #1.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Hawkins’ current fiscal year earnings is pegged at $3.61 per share, indicating a year-over-year rise of 26.2%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HWKN’s current-year earnings has been revised 4.3% upward in the past 30 days. HWKN, a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 30.6%. The company’s shares have rallied roughly 70% in the past year.
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