Northern Technologies (NTIC) Q4 Earnings and Sales Lag Estimates
Northern Technologies International Corporation NTIC recorded earnings of 10 cents per share in fourth-quarter fiscal 2023 (ended Aug 31, 2023) compared with earnings of 7 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.
Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings for the reported quarter were 3 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 18 cents.
Sales rose around 2% year over year to $20.7 million in the quarter. The figure lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $21.4 million. Sales were driven mainly by higher sales within the company’s ZERUST oil and gas and Natur-Tec product categories on the back of increased customer demand.
Northern Technologies International Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Northern Technologies International Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Northern Technologies International Corporation Quote
Sales by Product Category
Total ZERUST net sales rose around 2% year over year in the reported quarter to around $15.8 million.
Total Natur-Tec net sales increased roughly 3% year over year in the quarter to around $4.9 million.
FY23 Results
Earnings for fiscal 2023 were 30 cents per share, compared with 66 cents a year ago. Net sales were $79.9 million for the full year, up around 8% year over year. The company achieved record sales in fiscal 2023 notwithstanding the economic challenges in Europe and China as well as rising interest rates in the United States.
Financials
At the end of fiscal 2023, the company had cash and cash equivalents of roughly $5.4 million, up around 1% year over year.
Cash provided by operating activities was roughly $5.5 million for fiscal 2023.
Outlook
The company said that it will continue to invest strategically in its infrastructure in fiscal 2024 to support its long-term geographic expansion while navigating the challenges across European and Asian markets. NTIC is seeing stable demand within its North American Zerust industrial market as it enters fiscal 2024, and believes that it is well placed to witness continued strength within ZERUST oil and gas and Natur-Tec businesses. The company expects fiscal 2024 to be another year of top-line growth and improving profitability.
Price Performance
Shares of Northern Technologies are down 14.8% in the past year compared with the 14.5% decline of the industry.
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks
NTIC currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Better-ranked stocks worth a look in the basic materials space include Denison Mines Corp. DNN, Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. AXTA and The Andersons Inc. ANDE.
Denison Mines has a projected earnings growth rate of 100% for the current year. DNN has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 225%, on average. The stock is up around 52% in a year. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Axalta Coating Systems’ current year has been revised upward by 8.2%. AXTA, carrying a Zacks Rank #1, beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters while missing in one quarter, with the average earnings surprise being 6.7%. The company’s shares have gained 16% in the past year.
Andersons currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ANDE's current-year earnings has been revised 8.6% upward over the past 60 days. Andersons beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters. It delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 32.8%, on average. ANDE shares have rallied around 37% in a year.
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