Scotts Miracle-Gro's Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Sales Beat

Nutrien Ltd. NTR recorded third-quarter 2024 profit of $25 million or 4 cents per share, down from $82 million or 15 cents in the year-ago quarter. Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings per share were 39 cents. The bottom line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 44 cents.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Sales fell around 5% year over year to $5,348 million in the quarter. The figure lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5,362.9 million.

The company's financial performance was adversely impacted by lower net realized selling prices in the Potash unit and decreased earnings from the Retail unit.

Nutrien Ltd. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Nutrien Ltd. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Nutrien Ltd. Quote

NTR’s Segment Highlights

Sales in the Nutrien Ag Solutions (Retail) segment declined 6% year over year to $3,271 million in the quarter. The figure outpaced our estimate of $3,174.5 million. Retail adjusted EBITDA decreased in the third quarter of 2024, owing to reduced crop nutrient sales volumes in North America and lower seed margins in Brazil. Adjusted EBITDA rose in the first nine months of the year, driven by better product margins in North America.

Potash division’s sales declined 9% year over year to $884 million, missing our estimate of $975.7 million. Potash adjusted EBITDA fell in the third quarter and first nine months of 2024 due to lower net selling prices, partly offset by record sales volumes. Higher potash output and continuous advancements in mine automation contributed to lower controllable cash costs of products produced in the first nine months of 2024.

Sales in the Nitrogen segment were $793 million, up around 10% year over year. The reported figure topped our estimate of $739.2 million. Nitrogen adjusted EBITDA rose in the third quarter of 2024, mostly owing to higher net selling prices. Adjusted EBITDA fell in the first nine months, as lower net selling prices more than offset lower natural gas costs and higher sales volumes.

Sales in the Phosphate segment were $412 million, down around 7% year over year. The figure beat our estimate of $345.1 million. Phosphate adjusted EBITDA remained constant in the quarter, with increased net selling prices offset by reduced sales volumes and higher input costs. Adjusted EBITDA fell in the first nine months, as lower net selling prices more than offset stronger sales volumes and lower costs.

NTR’s Financials

At the end of the quarter, Nutrien had cash and cash equivalents of $520 million, down around 6.1% year over year. Long-term debt was $9,383 million, falling 0.4%.

Cash used in operating activities was $908 million in the reported quarter.

NTR’s Guidance

NTR lowered Retail adjusted EBITDA projection to $1.5-$1.6 billion due to improved growing conditions in North America, which resulted in lesser pest pressure and field activity in the third quarter.

Potash sales volume projection was increased to 13.5-13.9 million tons due to ongoing strong worldwide demand. The range incorporates fourth-quarter maintenance downtime and the anticipation of a short-term labor disruption at the Port of Vancouver.

Nitrogen sales volume projection has been reduced to 10.6-10.8 million tons due to extended turnarounds and unforeseen outages in the third quarter, including the impact of weather-related occurrences.

NTR maintained its capital expenditures guidance for 2024 of $2.2-$2.3 billion and expects capital expenditures in a range of $2-$2.1 billion for 2025.

NTR’s Price Performance

Nutrien’s shares have lost 19.6% in the past year compared with a 16.7% decline of the industry.

The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Materials ETF (RSPM) was launched on 11/01/2006, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Materials - Broad segment of the equity market.

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Index Details

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Alternatives

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Bottom Line

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Zacks Investment Research

Koppers Holdings Inc. KOP logged profits (attributable to the company) of $22.8 million or $1.09 per share for the third quarter of 2024, down from a profit of $26.3 million or $1.22 per share a year ago. Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings were $1.37 per share for the quarter, up from $1.32 per share a year ago. It topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.25.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Koppers recorded revenues of $554.3 million for the quarter, up around 1% year over year. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $571.8 million. The Railroad and Utility Products and Services (“RUPS”) segment delivered record sales on higher pricing. KOP saw lower sales across Performance Chemicals (PC) and Carbon Materials and Chemicals (“CMC”) segments in the reported quarter.

Koppers Holdings Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Koppers Holdings Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Koppers Holdings Inc. Quote

KOP's Segment Highlights

Sales from the RUPS segment rose around 6% year over year to $248.1 million in the reported quarter. It was below the consensus estimate of $258.9 million. Sales were driven by increased pricing across several markets and increased activity in the railroad bridge services business, partly masked by reduced activity in the crosstie recovery business.

The PC segment recorded sales of $176.7 million in the quarter, down around 1.5% year over year. It was below the consensus estimate of $183.1 million. Sales were impacted as sales to Brown Wood now being affiliated sales.

Sales from the CMC division fell 5.5% year over year to $129.5 million. It missed the consensus estimate of $132.2 million. The downside was due to reduced sales prices across most products and lower volumes of carbon black feedstock.

Koppers' Financials

Koppers ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $44.5 million, down around 9% sequentially. Long-term debt was $975.9 million, down around 1% sequentially.

KOP's Outlook

Koppers anticipates sales for 2024 to be roughly $2.1 billion factoring in the current competitive landscape, global economic conditions and the prevailing uncertainty associated with geopolitical and supply chain challenges. It expects adjusted EBITDA to be in the band of $270-$275 million for the year, including the acquisition of Brown Wood, which was completed on April 1, 2024. Koppers sees adjusted earnings per share to be $4.25-$4.45 for 2024.

The company also expects capital expenditures of roughly $80 million for this year. It sees operating cash flows of around $100-$125 million in 2024, barring any impact from pension termination.

KOP Stock’s Price Performance

Koppers’ shares have lost 13.4% in the past year compared with the Zacks Chemicals Diversified industry’s 4.6% rise.

The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One stock to keep an eye on is CF Industries (CF). CF is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A.

CF is also sporting a PEG ratio of 2.38. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. CF's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 3.15. CF's PEG has been as high as 2.67 and as low as 1.66, with a median of 2.28, all within the past year.

Investors should also recognize that CF has a P/B ratio of 1.91. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 2.13. Within the past 52 weeks, CF's P/B has been as high as 2.03 and as low as 1.57, with a median of 1.80.

Finally, we should also recognize that CF has a P/CF ratio of 7.25. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 17.92. CF's P/CF has been as high as 7.95 and as low as 4.79, with a median of 6.78, all within the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in CF Industries's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that CF is an impressive value stock right now.

Zacks Investment Research