News

Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS reported earnings of 85 cents per share for second-quarter fiscal 2024, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. It had posted adjusted earnings of 13 cents in the year-ago quarter.

Net sales increased 7.8% year over year to $624 million in the reported quarter. The upside was driven by a 3% year-over-year increase in shipment volume and the ongoing solid demand in most of the company’s end-use markets. However, the figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $670 million.

CRS witnessed a year-over-year revenue increase of 23.1%, 62.8%, 16.4% and 2% in the Aerospace and Defense, Energy, Medical and Industrial and Consumer end-use markets, respectively. Revenues in the Distribution markets decreased 25.3%. The Transportation end-use market’s revenues fell 1.8%.

Operational Results

The cost of goods sold in second-quarter fiscal 2024 fell 1.5% year over year to $502 million. The gross profit surged 75.1% year over year to $123 million. The operating income in the reported quarter was $69.8 million compared with the prior-year quarter’s $22.6 million.

Carpenter Technology Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Segmental Performance

The Specialty Alloys Operations segment reported sales of $549 million compared with the prior-year quarter’s $496 million. We predicted segmental sales to be $638 million. The segment sold 50,114 pounds compared with the year-ago quarter’s 49,442 pounds. The reported figure missed our estimate of 54,017 pounds.

The segment posted operating profit of $83.3 million compared with the prior-year quarter’s $30.3 million. Our estimate for the metric was $89.7 million.

The Performance Engineered Products’ net sales fell 10.3% year over year to $96 million. The reported figure missed our estimate of $105 million. The segment sold 2,318 pounds compared with the year-ago quarter’s 2,978 pounds. It was lower than our projection of 2,860 pounds.

Segmental operating profit was $7.1 million compared with the prior-year quarter’s $9.3 million. Our estimate for the metric was $11.4 million.

Financials

Carpenter Technology ended second-quarter fiscal 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $16 million compared with $45 million at the end of fiscal 2023. The long-term debt was around $694 million at the end of the quarter compared with $693 as of the end of fiscal 2023.

Cash flow from operating activities was $14.5 million in the quarter under review. It recorded cash outflow of $86.4 million in the prior-year quarter.

Shares of the company have gained 32.4% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 9.7%.

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Zacks Rank

Carpenter Technology currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks from the basic materials space are WestRock Company WRK, Ternium S.A. TX and Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd OR. While WRK and TX sport a Zacks Rank #1 each, OR carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WestRock’s 2024 earnings of $2.44 per share has moved 4% north in the past 60 days. It has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 32.1%. WRK’s shares have gained 17.3% in a year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ternium’s 2024 earnings is pegged at $8.00 per share. It has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 38.6%. TX’s shares have improved 36.5% in a year.

Osisko Gold has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 13.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for OR’s 2024 earnings of 48 cents per share has moved 4% north in the past 60 days. OR shares have rallied 13.4% last year.

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