Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. logged a net loss of $7.6 million or 4 cents per share in first-quarter 2022 compared with a loss of $3.3 million or 2 cents per share a year ago. Loss per share was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of a penny per share.

Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. Quote

Revenues & Margins

Marrone Bio’s revenues edged up 0.5% year over year to $11.1 million in the quarter. It missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $12.1 million.

The company witnessed increased sales of row crop products in the reported quarter, partly offset by reduced sales into specialty crop markets due to unfavorable weather conditions. Revenues were strongest for seed treatments sold for application in row crops across the United States and Europe.
 
Gross margin for the quarter was 55.9%, down from 63.1% recorded a year ago, reflecting changes in product mix, increased raw material costs and the expansion of operations at the Michigan manufacturing facility. Operating expenses climbed around 32% year over year to $13.2 million.

Financials

Marrone Bio ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of around $9.4 million, a roughly 50% year-over-year decline. Long-term debt was around $7.6 million, down around 33% year over year.

Net cash used in operations was roughly $8.4 million for the quarter, compared with around $5 million of cash used for the same period a year ago.

Outlook

Marrone Bio said that it expects low-to mid-teens percentage revenue growth for first-half 2022, representing a material increase over the sales growth it witnessed for the same period a year ago. It continues to see annual gross margins in the upper 50% range. Ongoing operating expenses are expected to be flat (plus inflation) for the full year.

Price Performance

Shares of MBII are down 31.3% over a year compared with the industry’s decline of 11.1%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Marrone Bio currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold)

Better-ranked stocks worth considering in the basic materials space include Steel Dynamics, Inc. (STLD Quick QuoteSTLD - Free Report) , Commercial Metals Company (CMC Quick QuoteCMC - Free Report) and Nutrien Ltd. (NTR Quick QuoteNTR - Free Report) .

Steel Dynamics, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), has an expected earnings growth rate of 28.6% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for STLD's current-year earnings has been revised 43.8% upward over the last 60 days. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Steel Dynamics beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters, the average being roughly 2.5%. STLD has gained around 16% in a year.

Commercial Metals, carrying a Zacks Rank #1, has a projected earnings growth rate of 78.2% for the current fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMC's current fiscal year earnings has been revised 31.9% upward over the past 60 days.

Commercial Metals beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters while missed once. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 16%, on average. CMC has gained around 12% in a year.

Nutrien, sporting a Zacks Rank #1, has an expected earnings growth rate of 161.9% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NTR's current-year earnings has been revised 38.8% upward over the last 60 days.

Nutrien beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters while missed once. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 5.8%, on average. NTR has rallied around 66% in a year.