News

A. O. Smith Corporation’s AOS first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of 95 cents per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 90 cents. The bottom line decreased 5% on a year-over-year basis.

Net sales of $963.9 million also surpassed the consensus estimate of $947 million. The top line decreased 1.5% year over year due to lower water heater volumes and decreased sales in China. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

Segmental Details

A. O. Smith’s quarterly sales in North America (comprising the United States and Canada operations) decreased 2.3% year over year to $748.7 million. Our estimate for segmental revenues was $744.5 million. This downtick was caused by lower water heater volumes.

Segmental earnings inched down 6.8% year over year to $185.2 million, primarily due to lower water heater volumes.

Quarterly sales in the Rest of the World (including China, India and Europe) segment were $226.7 million, flat year over year. Our estimate for sales in the segment was $219.1 million. Sales declined due to lower volumes of water treatment and gas water heater products. Sales in India increased 11% in local currency.

The segment’s earnings were $19.7 million, up 14.5% year over year due to cost reduction actions.

A. O. Smith Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

A. O. Smith Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | A. O. Smith Corporation Quote

AOS’ Margin Details

A.O. Smith’s cost of sales was $588.5 million, down 0.9% year over year. Selling, general & administrative expenses were $192.6 million, up 0.2%.

Gross profit decreased 2.4% year over year to $375.4 million. The gross margin was 38.9% compared with 39.3% in the year-ago period. Interest expenses were $2.9 million, up from $1.0 million in the year-ago quarter.

A.O. Smith’s Liquidity & Cash Flow

As of March 31, 2025, AOS’ cash and cash equivalents totaled $173.0 million compared with $239.6 million at the end of December 2024.

At the end of the quarter, long-term debt was $259.8 million compared with $183.2 million at the end of December 2024.

In the first three months of 2025, cash provided by operating activities totaled $38.7 million compared with $106.6 million in the year-ago period.

AOS’ Share Repurchases

In the first three months of 2025, A.O. Smith repurchased 1.8 million shares for $120.6 million. Exiting March 2025, 1.7 million shares were left to be repurchased under the existing share repurchase authorization.

A.O. Smith’s 2025 Outlook

A.O. Smith has affirmed the sales outlook for 2025. The company expects net sales to be in the range of $3.8-$3.9 billion. It reported sales of $3.82 billion in 2024.

Management currently projects adjusted earnings per share to be in the band of $3.60-$3.90. The company reported earnings of $3.63 per share in 2024.

AOS’ Zacks Rank

The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Performance of Other Companies

AZZ Inc. AZZ came out with quarterly earnings of $0.98 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.95. This compares with earnings of $0.93 per share a year ago.

AZZ reported revenues of $351.88 million, missing the consensus estimate by 3.77%. This compares with year-ago revenues of $366.5 million.

Valmont Industries VMI reported revenues of $969.31 million in the first quarter of 2025, declining 0.9% on a year-over-year basis. Earnings per share of $4.32 for the same period compare with $4.32 a year ago.

The reported revenues compare with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $975.6 million. The company delivered an earnings surprise of 1.89%, with the consensus estimate being $4.24 per share.

Pentair plc PNR came out with quarterly earnings of $1.11 per share in the first quarter of 2025, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01. This compares with earnings of $0.94 per share a year ago.

Pentair posted revenues of $1.01 billion for the quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate by 2.68%. This compares with year-ago revenues of $1.02 billion.

Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor Stock

It's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.

With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.

See This Stock Now for Free >>

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Valmont Industries, Inc. (VMI) : Free Stock Analysis Report

A. O. Smith Corporation (AOS) : Free Stock Analysis Report

AZZ Inc. (AZZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Pentair plc (PNR) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.