Manufacturing company Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) will be reporting earnings tomorrow after market hours. Here’s what you need to know.

Nordson beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 1% last quarter, reporting revenues of $744.5 million, up 3.5% year on year. It was a slower quarter for the company, with EPS guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations.

Is Nordson a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free.

This quarter, analysts are expecting Nordson’s revenue to be flat year on year at $638.3 million, slowing from the 3.7% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $2.08 per share.

Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Nordson has missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates four times over the last two years.

Looking at Nordson’s peers in the professional tools and equipment segment, some have already reported their Q4 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Lincoln Electric’s revenues decreased 3.4% year on year, beating analysts’ expectations by 2.5%, and Stanley Black & Decker reported flat revenue, topping estimates by 3.8%. Lincoln Electric traded up 10% following the results while Stanley Black & Decker’s stock price was unchanged.

Read our full analysis of Lincoln Electric’s results here and Stanley Black & Decker’s results here.

Valuation multiples for many growth stocks have not yet reverted to their early 2021 highs, but the market has been optimistic as of late due to a soft landing. This is an economic situation where rate hikes successfully quelled inflation but did not send the economy into a recession. Furthermore, recent rate cuts and Donald Trump's triumph in the 2024 Presidential election have been tailwinds for the market, and while some of the professional tools and equipment stocks have shown solid performance, the group has generally underperformed, with share prices down 4.4% on average over the last month. Nordson’s stock price was unchanged during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $255.82 (compared to the current share price of $218.35).

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