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WESCO Q3 Earnings & Revenues Beat Estimates: Buy, Sell, or Hold Stock?

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WESCO International (WCC - Free Report) has reported third-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $3.58 per share, down 20.3% year over year. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.18%.

WCC’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in one of the trailing four quarters, missing the same in the remaining three quarters, the average negative surprise being 8.34%.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Net sales of $5.489 billion fell 2.7% year over year. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.55%. Organic sales declined 0.6% year over year.

The company’s shares gained 1.57% in the pre-market trading. WCC shares have returned 10.4% year to date, underperforming the Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s appreciation of 27%.

However, an unimpressive fourth-quarter 2024 guidance reflects weak prospects for WESCO.

WESCO International, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

WESCO International, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

WESCO International, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | WESCO International, Inc. Quote

WCC’s Top-Line Details

The EES Segment (39.2% of Net Sales): Sales in the segment were $2.15 billion, down 1.8% year over year. Organic sales declined 2.9% year over year.

CSS (35.6% of Net Sales): Sales in the segment were $1.96 billion, up 10% year over year. Organic sales increased 8.5% on a year-over-year basis.

UBS (25.2% of Net Sales): Sales in the segment were $1.38 billion, down 17.5% year over year. Organic sales declined 7.2% year over year.

Large Contract Wins Enhance WESCO’s Prospects

WCC secured a $50-million contract in the EES Segment for a Canadian Hospital Project, leveraging strong client relationships and project management expertise.

WESCO’s CSS segment secured a four-year, $200-million contract to supply high-speed fiber, cable management, racks, accessories and deployment services for a data center project in South America.

The UBS segment secured a five-year, $2-billion contract extension with a North America utility to deliver supply-chain services for grid modernization, operational support and emergency response.

WCC Gross Margin Expands Y/Y, Operating Margin Contracts

The third-quarter 2024 gross margin was 22.1%, marking a year-over-year increase of 50 basis points (bps), driven by the Integrated Supply divestiture.

The adjusted EBITDA margin of 7.3% declined 80 bps year over year.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $825.2 million, up 6.4% year over year. As a percentage of net sales, the figure increased 130 bps year over year to 15%.

The adjusted operating margin was 6.2%, which contracted 90 bps year over year.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow

As of Sept. 30, 2024, cash and cash equivalents were $706.8 million, down from $716.5 million as of June 30, 2024.

The long-term debt was $5.01 billion at the third-quarter end compared with $5.2 billion in the prior quarter.

The company generated $302.1 million in cash from operations in the reported quarter compared with $223.8 million in the previous quarter.

For the third quarter, WESCO reported a free cash flow of $279.5 million compared with the previous quarter’s $234.1 million.

WESCO Retains 2024 Guidance

For 2024, WESCO expects organic sales between a decline of 1.5% and growth of 0.5%. Sales on a reported basis are expected to be $21.6-$22 billion.

WESCO expects the adjusted EBITDA margin between 7% and 7.3%.

The adjusted diluted EPS is expected between $12 and $13 per share.

The free cash flow is expected between $800 million and $1 billion.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

WESCO carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) at present, which implies that investors should stay away from the stock for the time being.

Arista Networks (ANET - Free Report) , Cirrus Logic (CRUS - Free Report) and Fair Isaac (FICO - Free Report) are some better-ranked stocks in the broader sector, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Arista Networks shares have gained 64.1% year to date. ANET is set to report third-quarter 2024 results on Nov. 7.

Cirrus Logic shares have gained 32% year to date. CRUS is set to report second-quarter fiscal 2025 results on Nov. 4.

Fair Isaac shares have risen 71.2% year to date. FICO is set to report third-quarter 2024 results on Nov. 6.

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