Why Itron Stock Battled Back From a Big Sell-Off Today
Key Points
Itron stock had been down as much as 9.7% today, but it battled back to close out the session in the green.
The company posted Q1 sales and earnings that beat the market's expectations.
While the company's forward guidance came in lower than anticipated, the stock recovered as the day progressed.
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Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI) stock managed to narrowly close out Tuesday's trading in the green despite big sell-offs early in the session. The company's share price ended the day's trading up 0.1% but had been off as much as 9.7% early in the day. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 ended the day down 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite closed out the session down 0.9%.
Itron posted its first-quarter results before the market opened today, and investors initially had a harshly negative reaction to the company's quarterly print and forward guidance. Despite the initial bearish response to the report, the company's share price saw strong recovery as the day progressed.
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Itron actually topped Wall Street's expectations for Q1
Itron recorded non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $1.49 in the first quarter, beating the average Wall Street analyst estimate by $0.25 per share. Meanwhile, sales came in at roughly $587 million -- beating the average analyst target by roughly $14.9 million. While sales came in roughly 3% lower compared to last year's quarter, the performance still beat analyst's expectations. While networked solutions ales fell roughly 13% year over year, outcomes revenues were up 22% compared to the prior-year period and helped mitigate the overall sales drop off in the period.
What should investors make of Itron's guidance?
Itron is guiding for sales to come in between $560 million and $570 million this quarter -- a level that fell significantly short of the average analyst estimate's call for sales of $607 million heading into the company's latest business update. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings per share are projected to be between $1.25 and $1.35 -- a target range that also fell short of Wall Street's call for per-share earnings of $1.46 in the period. While shares rebounded after their initial sell-offs today, the company's softer-than-expected forward guidance suggests that the stock could continue to face valuation pressures in the near term.
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Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Itron. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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