U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. (SLCA Quick QuoteSLCA - Free Report) recorded a profit of $41.3 million or 50 cents per share in the third quarter of 2017 as against a net loss of $11.3 million or 17 cents in the year-ago quarter.

 

Barring one-time items, U.S. Silica’s adjusted earnings came in at 53 cents per share in the quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 49 cents. 

 

Revenues for the reported quarter were $345 million, a 151% year-over-year jump. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $328.6 million. Overall sales volume jumped 63% year over year in the quarter to around 4.1 million tons.

 

Revenues for the Oil & Gas division were $286.4 million in the quarter, a roughly 230% year-over-year surge. Overall sales volume soared 95% in the quarter to around 3.1 million tons from 1.6 million tons in the prior-year quarter.

 

Revenues for the Industrial and Specialty Products division came in at $58.7 million in the quarter, up roughly 15% year over year. Overall sales volume rose 6% year over year to around 0.9 million tons.

 

 

U.S. Silica had $463.7 million in cash and cash equivalents at the end of the quarter, up roughly 75.6% year over year. Total debt was roughly $511.3 million, up 0.9% year over year. Capital spending in the third quarter was $130.7 million.

 

 

U.S. Silica now expects its capital expenditures for 2017 to be at the high end of its earlier announced guidance range or around $375 million. For the fourth quarter, the company sees rising sand volumes and continued pricing upside in the Oil & Gas segment.

 

 

U.S. Silica’s shares have lost 30.8% over a year, underperforming the 17.3% gain of the industry it belongs to.

 

 

 

 

U.S. Silica presently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

 

Some better-ranked companies in the basic materials space are BHP Billiton Limited (BHP Quick QuoteBHP - Free Report) , FMC Corporation (FMC Quick QuoteFMC - Free Report) and Koppers Holdings Inc. (KOP Quick QuoteKOP - Free Report) .

 

BHP Billiton has expected long-term earnings growth of 5.3% and sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

 

FMC Corporation has expected long-term earnings growth of 11.3% and carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

 

Koppers Holdings has expected long-term earnings growth of 18% and carries a Zacks Rank #2.

 

 

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