Nordson (NDSN) shares dropped early Thursday as the precision technology company issued a downbeat fiscal first-quarter outlook while its results in the prior three-month period topped market estimates.

Adjusted earnings are set to come in between $1.95 and $2.15 per share for the ongoing quarter while revenue is expected between $615 million and $655 million, the company said late Wednesday. The current consensus on FactSet is for non-GAAP EPS of $2.27 and revenue of $675.8 million. The stock fell 5.4% in premarket activity.

"Considering the evolving global macro-environment, we are entering 2025 with a conservative viewpoint," Chief Executive Sundaram Nagarajan said in a statement. "The fiscal first quarter is seasonally Nordson's weakest quarter due to the holiday and calendar year-end slowdowns and cautious customer spending."

For the three months through October, the company reported adjusted EPS of $2.78 versus $2.71 the year before, topping the Street's view for $2.59. Sales increased 3.5% to $744.5 million, ahead of analysts' $736.8 million estimate.

Sales in the industrial precision segment declined to $392.2 million from $405.4 million in the prior-year quarter. The medical and fluid solutions division logged a 19% jump in revenue year over year to $200.2 million, driven mainly by the company's acquisition of medical infusion and cardiovascular technologies company Atrion completed in August. In the advanced technology business, sales rose 4.7% to $152.1 million amid steadily improving electronics demand at the end of the fiscal year, according to Nagarajan.

Revenue grew across all the geographies the company operates in, led by a 7.6% increase in Asia Pacific. Selling and administrative expenses rose to $223.9 million from $199.1 million in the 2023 quarter, the company said.

Nordson projects adjusted EPS to be in a range of $9.70 to $10.50 on sales of $2.75 billion to $2.87 billion for fiscal 2025. The Street is looking for non-GAAP EPS of $10.35 and sales of $2.92 billion. In the just-ended fiscal year, adjusted EPS decreased to $9.73 from $9.85 last year, while sales inclined 2% to $2.69 billion.

"While we remain confident about the long-term growth drivers of our end markets, we are being prudent about our expectations for end market recovery timing, particularly for our electronics and agricultural product lines," Nagarajan said.