Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Lower Roofing Sales to Hurt Owens Corning (OC) Q4 Earnings

Read MoreHide Full Article

Owens Corning (OC - Free Report) is slated to report fourth-quarter 2019 results on Feb 19, before the opening bell.

The company reported better-than-expected results in third-quarter 2019. Also, earnings and sales grew 3.8% and 3.6%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. The upside was backed by increased organic growth, improved operating efficiencies, and higher contribution from Roofing and Composites businesses.

Trend in Estimate Revision

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings for the quarter to be reported has been unchanged at $1.11 per share over the past 60 days. The said figure indicates a 19.6% decrease from the year-ago earnings of $1.38 per share. The consensus mark for revenues is $1.68 billion, suggesting a 2.4% year-over-year decline.

Owens Corning Inc Price and EPS Surprise

Factors to Note

Weakness in certain markets served and year-over-year negative price comparison in the North American Residential business are likely to weigh on Owens Corning’s fourth-quarter 2019 results.

The company’s market size in the Roofing business has been declining. Also, the U.S. asphalt shingle end market is expected to have been soft in the quarter to be reported. Negative rebate comparison related to rebate adjustments in the prior year is likely to have put pressure on margins.

In the Insulation unit, soft demand — mainly in the North American residential fiberglass insulation business — and foreign exchange rate fluctuation might have been significant concerns for the company. The North American Residential fiberglass insulation business has been witnessing difficult volume comparisons for quite some time. These headwinds are expected to weigh on results in the quarter to be reported.

Additionally, the company expects difficult price comparison in the North American Residential fiberglass Insulation business to have put pressure on the segment’s top line. Weakness in Europe and the timing of some global projects are expected to have added to the woes.

Nonetheless, the company undertook certain initiatives that are anticipated to have driven overall performance. However, two-thirds of restructuring and other related charges associated with these initiatives are expected to have been realized in fourth-quarter 2019.

Importantly, it recognized a non-cash settlement charge of approximately $45 million during fourth-quarter 2019, which is expected to have put pressure on the bottom line.

What Our Model Suggests

Our proven model doesn’t conclusively predict an earnings beat for Owens Corning this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that’s not the case here. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Leggett — which shares space with Foundation Building Materials, Inc. , Installed Building Products, Inc. (IBP - Free Report) and Simpson Manufacturing Co., Inc. (SSD - Free Report) in the Zacks Building Products - Miscellaneous industry — has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. You may uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Today's Best Stocks from Zacks

Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2019, while the S&P 500 gained and impressive +53.6%, five of our strategies returned +65.8%, +97.1%, +118.0%, +175.7% and even +186.7%.

This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 – 2019, while the S&P averaged +6.0% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +54.7% per year.

See their latest picks free >>

Published in