Badger Meter, Inc BMI reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.08 for third-quarter 2024, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.9%. Also, the bottom line compared favorably with the year-ago quarter’s EPS of 88 cents.

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Quarterly net sales were $208.4 million, up 12% from $186.2 million in the year-ago quarter. The uptick resulted from continued strong yet normalizing demand for its tailorable water management solutions. 

However, the top line missed the consensus mark by 0.3%. The company noted that it now expects to deliver high single-digit sales growth rates going ahead.  

Following the announcement, shares fell 6.3% and closed trading at $205.95 on Oct. 17, 2024. Badger Meter announced a 26% hike in annual dividend rate, representing the 32nd consecutive year of increases. 

Badger Meter, Inc. Price and Consensus

Badger Meter, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Badger Meter, Inc. Quote

Segmental Performance

In the quarter under review, utility water sales rose 14% due to continued robust adoption across the BlueEdge suite of solutions by utility customers. This growth is driven by increased sales of meters, water quality, pressure and other sensors alongside ORION communication endpoints and BEACON Software as a Service (SaaS). 

Sales of flow instrumentation products remained flat year over year, with modest growth in water-focused markets balancing out declines in various de-emphasized applications worldwide.

Other Details

In the third quarter, gross profit was $83.9 million, up 15.3% year over year. The gross margin was 40.2%, up 110 basis points year over year. The improvement in gross margin highlights the advantages of a favorable sales mix, particularly with robust sales in AMI and software. This positive trend is further supported by effective pricing strategies, cost management and strong operational performance.

Operating earnings were $40.6 million or 19.5% of sales compared with $31.4 million or 16.9% of sales in the year-ago quarter.

Selling, engineering and administration expenses were $43.3 million or 20.8% of sales compared with $41.3 million or 22.2% of sales in the prior-year quarter. An increase in personal-related expenses such as higher headcount and salaries resulted in the rise.

Cash Flow & Liquidity

In the third quarter of 2024, Badger Meter generated $45.1 million of net cash from operating activities compared with $31.4 million a year ago.

As of Sept. 30, 2024, the company had $259 million of cash and cash equivalents and $129.2 million of total current liabilities compared with the respective figures of $226.2 million and $138 million as of June 30, 2024.
The company reported a record quarterly free cash flow of $42 million compared with $28.4 million a year ago, reflecting improved earnings and working capital management.

Zacks Rank

Badger Meter currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). In the past year, shares of BMI have gained 53.4% compared with the sub-industry’s growth of 25.3%.

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Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks from the broader technology space that have recently reported earnings are BlackBerry Limited BB, America Movil, S.A.B. de C.V. AMX and Netflix, Inc. NFLX. BB presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), whereas AMX & NFLX carry a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Blackberry reported results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025, wherein quarterly revenues were $145 million, up 9.9% from the year-ago quarter. The company posted breakeven earnings, better than the company’s estimate of a loss per share of 2-4 cents. It delivered an earnings surprise of 131.25%, on average, in the trailing four quarters. In the last reported quarter, BB pulled off an earnings surprise of 100%. 

America Movil recently reported results for the third quarter of 2024, wherein EPS of 11 cents missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 73.2%. Quarterly net sales were $11.82 billion, down 1.1% from the year-ago quarter and missed the consensus mark by 1.27%. It has a long-term growth rate of 11.8%.

Netflix reported third-quarter 2024 revenues of $9.82 billion, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.6%. Quarterly earnings came in at $5.4 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.1. It delivered an earnings surprise of 5.7%, on average, in the trailing four quarters. In the last reported quarter, NFLX pulled off an earnings surprise of 6.1%.

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