Generac Earnings Off Stock Some Relief From Stormy Economic Weather.

Generac reported earnings per share of 63 cents from sales of $888 million. Expectations were for 48 cents and $840 million. Despite the solid results, sales and earnings per share were down from 2022’s first-quarter numbers of $1.1 billion and $2.09.

The company has hit a rough patch because of high dealer inventories for its backup generators. The oversupply has led to lower production, sales, and profits. Shares are down more than 50% over the past 12 months.

“As expected, first quarter sales were down year-over-year due to a challenging prior year comparison related to the significant excess backlog for home standby products as we entered 2022,” said CEO Aaron Jagdfeld in a statement. “However, power outage activity in the quarter was well above the long-term average, helping drive significant year-over-year growth for home standby in-home consultations and a meaningful reduction in field inventory levels for these products.”

The company left full- year 2023 financial guidance unchanged. Sales are expected to decline between 6% and 10% compared with 2022.

Generac was a Barron’s stock pick in September when shares were about $171 a piece. With shares trading so much lower, it hasn’t turned out to be a good call.

We believed increasing power outages would lead to growth for the company. While still might be the case, we didn’t give the current environment enough sway. In October, the company cut its sales growth outlook as inventories piled up at dealers.

That initial guidance cut led to several downgrades as well as a lower stock price. In September, about 90% of analysts covering the stock rated shares Buy. Today, about 48% rate shares Buy. The average Buy-rating ratio for a stock in the S&P 500 is about 58%.

The average analyst price target sits at about $144 share, down from about $330 back in September.

Write to Al Root at [email protected]