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Vulcan Materials (VMC) to Post Q2 Earnings: What to Expect?

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Vulcan Materials Company (VMC - Free Report) is scheduled to release second-quarter 2022 results on Aug 4, before the opening bell.

In the last reported quarter, the company’s adjusted earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 17.7% and revenues beat the same by 8.4%. On a year-over-year basis, earnings grew 5.8% and revenues increased 44.2%.

Vulcan Materials’ earnings topped the consensus mark in two of the last four quarters and missed the same on other two occasions, with the average surprise being 2.8%.

Trend in Estimate Revision

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter’s earnings per share has been revised downward to $1.66 from $1.69 over the past seven days. The estimated figure indicates an increase of 5.7% from the year-ago quarter. The consensus estimate for revenues is pegged at $1.85 billion, suggesting 36.2% year-over-year growth.

Vulcan Materials Company Price and EPS Surprise

Vulcan Materials Company Price and EPS Surprise

Vulcan Materials Company price-eps-surprise | Vulcan Materials Company Quote

Factors to Note

Higher non-residential construction activities and incremental federal funding from the recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act should have acted as a tailwind for second-quarter 2022. Also, resilient pricing — given growth in all product lines — is expected to have supported growth.

Higher spending from a number of states that it serves is likely to have aided revenues. The aggregates business (including crushed stone, sand, and gravel along with other aggregates) has been a major contributor to revenue growth. Efforts to enhance operational excellence, acquisition synergies and cost-control measures are expected to have aided the bottom line to some extent. Vulcan Materials closed the previously announced acquisition of U.S. Concrete, thereby enhancing its aggregates-led business with additional geographic reach. U.S. Concrete is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vulcan.

Yet, higher diesel and fuel costs may have been risks. Inflation from hydrocarbons, rising liquid asphalt costs, insurance and labor might have added to the negatives. Along with higher energy prices, VMC's Mexican operations shutdown is added negative.

Other Projections

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for net sales from the Aggregates segment (accounting for 72% of total revenues) is pegged at $1,359 million, indicating an increase from $1,125 million a year ago.

The consensus mark for net sales from the Concrete segment (accounting for 13.8% of total revenues) is $397 million, suggesting a massive increase from $96 million a year ago.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same from the Asphalt Mix segment (14% of total revenues) is pegged at $248 million, indicating growth from $213 million a year ago.

The consensus mark for the Calcium segment’s net sales is $2.26 million, suggesting an increase from $1.96 million a year ago.

What Our Quantitative Model Predicts

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Vulcan this time around. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. Unfortunately, that is not the case here, as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate, is -0.97%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

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

Some Recent Construction Releases

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (MLM - Free Report) reported impressive second-quarter 2022 results. Earnings and revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate and increased on a year-over-year basis, backed by improved pricing across businesses and higher demand.

Despite increased inflationary pressure from rising input costs and a challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical environment, solid execution of its strategic business plan and resilient aggregates-led business drove the result.

EMCOR Group, Inc. (EME - Free Report) reported solid results for second-quarter 2022. The top and bottom lines surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate and increased year over year.

EME’s management approved a 15.4% hike in its regular quarterly dividend to 15 cents, payable on Oct 31 to stockholders of record as of Oct 18, 2022. Also, it authorized a new share repurchase program to repurchase up to an additional $500 million of its outstanding common stock.

United Rentals, Inc. (URI - Free Report) posted better-than-expected second-quarter 2022 results. Better fleet productivity on broad-based rental demand in construction and industrial verticals, higher total and rental revenues along with stronger pricing helped the company to boost profit.

URI also lifted its full-year guidance for total revenues, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow, given broad-based end-market activity, contractor backlogs, customer sentiment and our visibility through the balance of the year.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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