News

Xylem Inc.’s XYL first-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of 90 cents per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 84 cents. Also, the bottom line increased 14% year over year.

XYL’s revenues of $2.03 billion outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.00 billion. The top line jumped 40% year over year, driven by strong commercial and operational execution, and resilient demand. Organic sales in the quarter rose 7%.

Orders of $2.2 billion increased 43% year over year in the reported quarter. Organically, orders were up 3%.

Segmental Details

Revenues in the Water Infrastructure segment totaled $574 million, up 40% year over year. Organic sales increased 6% year over year, buoyed by price realization and growth across all regions and applications.

The Applied Water segment generated revenues of $436 million in the quarter, down 4% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $439 million. Organic sales fell 4% on a year-over-year basis. The segmental performance was hurt by unfavorable mix, inflation and lower volume partially offset by productivity.

Quarterly revenues at the Measurement & Control Solutions segment totaled $462 million, up 22.2% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $475 million. Organic sales were up 22% year over year driven by smart metering demand and execution.

Quarterly revenues at the Water Solutions and Services segment totaled $561 million, up 171% year over year. Organic sales were up 6% year over year driven by large long-term outsourced water contract.

Xylem Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Margin Profile

In the reported quarter, Xylem’s adjusted EBITDA was $391 million, up 65.7% from the year-ago quarter’s level. The margin improved to 19.2% compared with 16.3% in the prior year.

Adjusted operating income was $294 million, up 58.9% year over year. Adjusted operating margin increased to 14.5% from 12.8% in the year-earlier quarter.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

Exiting the first quarter of 2024, Xylem had cash and cash equivalents of $947 million compared with $1.02 billion at the end of December 2023. Long-term debt was $1.99 billion at the end of the first quarter 2024 compared with $2.3 billion at the end of December 2023.

In the first three months of 2024, XYL generated net cash of $89 million from operating activities against $19 million used in year-ago period. Capital expenditure was $74 million, up 51% from the year-earlier quarter. Free cash flow was $15 million in the first three months of 2024 against free cash outflow of $35 million in the prior year.

Rewards to Shareholders

In the first three months of 2024, Xylem paid dividends of $88 million, up 46.7% year over year. The company also bought back shares worth $15 million in the same period compared with $8 million worth of shares repurchased in a year ago.

2024 Guidance

Xylem now expects revenues of approximately $8.5 billion for 2024. This indicates an increase of 15-16% from the prior-year levels on a reported basis and around 4-6% on an organic basis. Previously, the company projected the same to increase 14-15% on a reported basis and 3-5% on an organic basis.

Adjusted EBITDA margin is estimated to be approximately 20.0% for 2024, indicating an expansion of 110 basis points from the year-earlier actuals. XYL currently forecasts adjusted earnings in the range of $4.10-$4.25 per share, higher than the band of $4.00-$4.20 projected earlier. This metric suggests an increase from $3.78 per share reported in 2023. Free cash flow conversion to net income is anticipated to be around 115%.

Zacks Rank & Industrial Companies

XYL currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Here are some better-ranked stocks from the same space:

Chart Industries GTLS presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). It has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 75.9%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GTLS’ 2024 earnings has increased 5.7% in the past 60 days.

Crane Company CR currently flaunts a Zacks Rank of 1. It delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 15.2%.

In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CR’s 2024 earnings has increased 4.9%.

Ingersoll Rand plc IR presently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). IR delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 15.9%.

In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ingersoll Rand’s 2024 earnings has increased 1.6%.

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