Update: RBC Bearings Fiscal Q3 Adjusted Earnings, Net Sales Rise; Q4 Sales Outlook Set

RBC Bearings Incorporated (RBC) is currently at $355.12, up $33.10 or 10.28%

• Would be new all-time high (Based on available data back to Aug. 10, 2005)
• On pace for largest percent increase since July 26, 2021, when it rose 16.22%
• Currently up three of the past four days
• Currently up two consecutive days; up 13.97% over this period
• Best two day stretch since the two days ending May 27, 2022, when it rose 16.89%
• Up 18.71% month-to-date; on pace for best month since Nov. 2024, when it rose 19.53%
• Up 18.71% year-to-date
• Up 28.73% from 52 weeks ago (Feb. 2, 2024), when it closed at $275.87
• Would be a new 52-week closing high
• Up 46.27% from its 52-week closing low of $242.79 on April 18, 2024
• Traded as high as $364.96; new all-time intraday high (Based on available data back to Aug. 10, 2005)
• Up 13.33% at today's intraday high; largest intraday percent increase since Sept. 23, 2021, when it rose as much as 13.51%

All data as of 10:36:32 AM ET

Source: Dow Jones Market Data, FactSet

RBC Bearings (RBC) came out with quarterly earnings of $2.34 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.20 per share. This compares to earnings of $1.85 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.

This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 6.36%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this maker of bearings and components would post earnings of $2.30 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.29, delivering a surprise of -0.43%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times.

RBC Bearings, which belongs to the Zacks Manufacturing - General Industrial industry, posted revenues of $394.4 million for the quarter ended December 2024, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.17%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $373.91 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters.

The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.

RBC Bearings shares have added about 7.7% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 3.2%.

What's Next for RBC Bearings?

While RBC Bearings has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?

There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.

Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for RBC Bearings: unfavorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to underperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $2.71 on $440.62 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $9.70 on $1.64 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Manufacturing - General Industrial is currently in the bottom 31% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

Another stock from the same industry, Trimble Navigation (TRMB), has yet to report results for the quarter ended December 2024.

This GPS manufacturer is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.89 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +41.3%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 2.7% lower over the last 30 days to the current level.

Trimble Navigation's revenues are expected to be $946.18 million, up 1.5% from the year-ago quarter.

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