Titan Machinery 3Q results miss, cuts 2014 outlook

NEWS: Titan Machinery's fiscal third-quarter net income slid 60 percent, hindered by lower agriculture equipment sales and reduced equipment margins due to pricing pressure. Its performance fell short of analysts' estimates.

The West Fargo, N.D.-based agricultural and construction equipment seller also slashed its full-year forecasts, partly based on its year-to-date results.

The stock declined in afternoon trading on Thursday.

DETAILS: Operating expenses rose to $75 million from $64 million, partly because sales in the company's retail locations open at least a year declined 6.5 percent.

NUMBERS: For the three months ended Oct. 31, Titan Machinery Inc. earned $5.7 million, or 27 cents per share. That's down from $14.1 million, or 66 cents per share, a year ago.

Analysts expected earnings of 48 cents per share, according to a FactSet poll.

Revenue rose 1 percent to $588 million from $582.1 million, helped by higher parts sales and increased rental revenue and revenue from services. But Wall Street forecast higher revenue of $615.2 million.

FUTURE: Titan Machinery now predicts fiscal 2014 earnings of 55 cents to 75 cents per share on revenue of $2.15 billion to $2.35 billion. Its prior guidance was for earnings of $1.20 to $1.50 per share on revenue in a range of $2.25 billion to $2.45 billion.

Analysts expect full-year earnings of $1.28 per share on revenue of $2.35 billion.

STOCK: The shares declined $1.18, or 7.4 percent, to $14.79 in afternoon trading. The stock is down 35 percent for the year to date.