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Badger Meter's Q2 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Beat, Stock Down

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Key Takeaways

  • BMI's utility water sales climbed 11%, fueled by smart tech adoption and higher metering solution demand.
  • SmartCover integration drove SEA expense growth but also revealed new go-to-market opportunities.
  • BMI's cash from operations grew to $44.6M from $36.4M, supporting liquidity amid higher SEA spending.

Badger Meter, Inc. (BMI - Free Report) reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.17 for second-quarter 2025, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.3%. However, the bottom line compared favorably with the year-ago quarter’s EPS of $1.12.

Quarterly net sales were $238.1 million, up 10% from $216.7 million in the year-ago quarter, driven by higher utility water sales and the contribution from the SmartCover acquisition. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $234.3 million.

Management highlighted that Demand for its flexible, industry-leading cellular AMI solution and comprehensive BlueEdge portfolio of customizable water management offerings remained resilient, despite ongoing macroeconomic, trade and policy challenges.

The company has made meaningful progress in leveraging Badger Meter’s capabilities across SmartCover’s operations and is uncovering new go-to-market opportunities for SmartCover as part of its BlueEdge platform.

Following the lower-than-expected EPS performance, BMI’s shares slid 16.5% and closed trading at $204.80 on Tuesday. In the past year, shares have inched up 1.9% compared with the Zacks Instruments-Control industry’s growth of 4%.

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Segmental Performance

In the quarter under review, utility water sales rose 11% year over year, driven by continued customer adoption of digital smart water technologies, including higher sales of metering solutions, BEACON SaaS and water quality and remote monitoring products. Even excluding SmartCover, organic utility water sales were up 6%, building on the strong 26% growth achieved in the second quarter of 2024.

Flow instrumentation sales were relatively flat year over year, as slight growth in water-related markets was offset by reduced demand in non-water-related applications that the company is no longer prioritizing.

Other Details

In the second quarter, gross profit was $97.8 million, up from $85.4 million in the prior-year quarter. Gross margin was 41.1%, up 170 basis points (bps) year over year. This improvement was driven by continued enhancements in the structural sales mix and ongoing operational excellence initiatives. Additionally, recently implemented price increases helped partially offset certain tariff-related cost pressures during the quarter.

Operating earnings jumped 8% year over year to $44.9 million, while operating margin declined 40 bps to 18.8% from 19.2%.

Badger Meter, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Badger Meter, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Badger Meter, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Badger Meter, Inc. Quote

Selling, engineering and administration (SEA) expenses rose 20.7% year over year to $52.9 million, primarily driven by the addition of SmartCover, which included $1.6 million in amortization of intangible assets. Without factoring in the SmartCover acquisition, SEA expenses increased 8%, mainly due to higher personnel costs to support business growth and approximately $1.0 million in deferred compensation expense linked to changes in the company’s stock price during the quarter. Overall, SEA expenses represented 22.2% of sales, up from 20.2% in the same quarter last year.

Cash Flow & Liquidity

In the second quarter of 2025, Badger Meter generated $44.6 million of net cash from operating activities compared with $36.4 million a year ago. 
As of June 30, 2025, the company had $165.2 million of cash and cash equivalents and $138.7 million of total current liabilities compared with the respective figures of $131.4 million and $141 million as of March 31, 2025.

Outlook

Badger Meter is confident in achieving high single-digit revenue growth over the long term, supported by strong industry fundamentals, sustained customer demand, ongoing and upcoming RFP activity, project awards and the competitive strength of its comprehensive solution portfolio tailored to address critical water management needs.

BMI’s Zacks Rank

Badger Meter currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Performance of Other Companies

BlackBerry Limited (BB - Free Report) reported first-quarter fiscal 2026 non-GAAP EPS of 2 cents. The figure beat the company’s estimate of a loss of 1 cent to breakeven. In the year-ago quarter, it reported a non-GAAP loss of 2 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at breakeven.

Quarterly total revenues of $121.7 million exceeded its guidance ($107-$115 million) but fell 1.4% year over year.

In the past, shares of BB have gained 65%.

Simulations Plus, Inc. (SLP - Free Report) reported third-quarter fiscal 2025 adjusted earnings of 45 cents per share, which expanded 66.7% year over year. The figure also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 26 cents per share.

Quarterly revenues jumped 10% year over year to $20.4 million, driven by continued momentum across its software and services business segments, along with a $2.4 million boost from the Pro-ficiency acquisition.

In the past, shares of SLP have declined 67%

SAP SE (SAP - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2025 non-IFRS earnings of €1.50 ($1.70) per share, climbing 37% from the year-ago quarter’s levels. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $1.63.

Driven by robust cloud growth, disciplined cost control, and expanding AI capabilities, SAP reported total revenues on a non-IFRS basis of €9.03 billion ($10.24 billion), representing a 9% year-over-year increase (up 12% at constant currency or cc). The Zacks Consensus estimate was pegged at $10.37 billion.

Shares of SAP have surged 46.3% in the past year.


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