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Badger Meter (BMI) Q1 Earnings & Revenues Top Estimates
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Badger Meter, Inc (BMI - Free Report) reported earnings per share (EPS) of 99 cents for first-quarter 2024, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 16.5%. Also, the bottom line compared favorably with the year-ago quarter’s EPS of 66 cents.
Quarterly net sales increased to $196.3 million, up 23.4% from $159.1 million in the year-ago quarter. The increase was primarily driven by robust customer demand for its smart water solutions and operating execution. Also, the top line beat the consensus mark by 7.3%.
Earlier, in the year, the company had expanded its solutions’ portfolio by acquiring select remote water monitoring hardware and software solutions from Trimble including the Telog brand of remote telemetry units or RTUs and Trimble Unity Remote Monitoring software.
Following the announcement, shares of BMI gained 16.7% and closed the session at $178.48 on Apr 18.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
In the past year, shares of BMI have gained 33.9% compared with the sub-industry’s growth of 17.2%.
Badger Meter, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
In the quarter under review, utility water sales rose 29% due to strong demand momentum. Momentum in E-Series Ultrasonic meters, coupled with cellular AMI solution (inclusive of ORION Cellular endpoint sales and higher BEACON Software-as-a-Service), acted as a major tailwind. Increasing demand for water quality and pressure and network monitoring sales were other growth drivers.
Flow instrumentation sales declined 3% year over year. This was mainly due to tougher year-over-year comparison stemming from the easing of supply-chain constraints in the prior-year quarter. However, sales were up 13% on a quarter-over-quarter basis.
Other Details
In the first quarter, gross profit was $77.2 million, up 22.9% year over year. Structural positive sales mix and higher volumes resulted in this upside amid inflationary pressure. The gross margin was 39.3%, down 20 basis points year over year.
Operating earnings were $36.6 million or 18.6% of sales compared with $25 million or 15.7% of sales in the year-ago quarter.
Selling, engineering and administration expenses were $40.6 million or 20.7% of sales compared with $37.8 million or 23.7% of sales in the prior-year quarter. The increase in expenses was mainly due to higher personnel costs including salaries and incentive compensation. The company expects expenses to increase in 2024 owing to additional growth investment and spending.
Cash Flow & Liquidity
In the first quarter of 2024, Badger Meter generated $21.5 million of net cash from operating activities compared with $17.9 million a year ago.
As of Mar 31, 2024, the company had $199.3 million of cash and cash equivalents and $135.1 million of total current liabilities compared with the respective figures of $191.8 million and $131.9 million as of Dec 31, 2023.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SNPS’ fiscal 2024 EPS is pegged at $13.18. The long-term earnings growth rate is 17.5%. Synopsys’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 4.1%. Shares of SNPS have soared 37.6% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BLKB’s 2024 EPS is pegged at $4.22 per share. Blackbaud’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 8.7% Shares of BLKB have gained 15.4% in the past year
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CDNS’ 2024 EPS has increased 1.2% in the past 60 days to $5.94. Cadence’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 3.4%. Shares of CDNS have gained 33.8% in the past year.
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Badger Meter (BMI) Q1 Earnings & Revenues Top Estimates
Badger Meter, Inc (BMI - Free Report) reported earnings per share (EPS) of 99 cents for first-quarter 2024, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 16.5%. Also, the bottom line compared favorably with the year-ago quarter’s EPS of 66 cents.
Quarterly net sales increased to $196.3 million, up 23.4% from $159.1 million in the year-ago quarter. The increase was primarily driven by robust customer demand for its smart water solutions and operating execution. Also, the top line beat the consensus mark by 7.3%.
Earlier, in the year, the company had expanded its solutions’ portfolio by acquiring select remote water monitoring hardware and software solutions from Trimble including the Telog brand of remote telemetry units or RTUs and Trimble Unity Remote Monitoring software.
Following the announcement, shares of BMI gained 16.7% and closed the session at $178.48 on Apr 18.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
In the past year, shares of BMI have gained 33.9% compared with the sub-industry’s growth of 17.2%.
Badger Meter, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Badger Meter, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Badger Meter, Inc. Quote
Segmental Performance
In the quarter under review, utility water sales rose 29% due to strong demand momentum. Momentum in E-Series Ultrasonic meters, coupled with cellular AMI solution (inclusive of ORION Cellular endpoint sales and higher BEACON Software-as-a-Service), acted as a major tailwind. Increasing demand for water quality and pressure and network monitoring sales were other growth drivers.
Flow instrumentation sales declined 3% year over year. This was mainly due to tougher year-over-year comparison stemming from the easing of supply-chain constraints in the prior-year quarter. However, sales were up 13% on a quarter-over-quarter basis.
Other Details
In the first quarter, gross profit was $77.2 million, up 22.9% year over year. Structural positive sales mix and higher volumes resulted in this upside amid inflationary pressure. The gross margin was 39.3%, down 20 basis points year over year.
Operating earnings were $36.6 million or 18.6% of sales compared with $25 million or 15.7% of sales in the year-ago quarter.
Selling, engineering and administration expenses were $40.6 million or 20.7% of sales compared with $37.8 million or 23.7% of sales in the prior-year quarter. The increase in expenses was mainly due to higher personnel costs including salaries and incentive compensation. The company expects expenses to increase in 2024 owing to additional growth investment and spending.
Cash Flow & Liquidity
In the first quarter of 2024, Badger Meter generated $21.5 million of net cash from operating activities compared with $17.9 million a year ago.
As of Mar 31, 2024, the company had $199.3 million of cash and cash equivalents and $135.1 million of total current liabilities compared with the respective figures of $191.8 million and $131.9 million as of Dec 31, 2023.
Zacks Rank
Badger Meter currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold)
Stocks to Consider
Some better ranked stocks worth consideration in the broader technology space are Synopsys (SNPS - Free Report) , Blackbaud (BLKB - Free Report) and Cadence Design Systems (CDNS - Free Report) . While SNPS sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), BLKB and CDNS carry a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) each, at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SNPS’ fiscal 2024 EPS is pegged at $13.18. The long-term earnings growth rate is 17.5%. Synopsys’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 4.1%. Shares of SNPS have soared 37.6% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BLKB’s 2024 EPS is pegged at $4.22 per share. Blackbaud’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 8.7% Shares of BLKB have gained 15.4% in the past year
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CDNS’ 2024 EPS has increased 1.2% in the past 60 days to $5.94. Cadence’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 3.4%. Shares of CDNS have gained 33.8% in the past year.