Ingersoll (IR) Meets Q4 Earnings Estimate, 2018 View Bullish

With a diverse portfolio of industrial and commercial products, Ingersoll-Rand Plc IR is a premier player in the industrial goods market. This Dublin, Ireland-based firm has a solid foundation of global brands with a leading market share in all major product lines.

After the divestiture of the commercial and residential security businesses, IR has been diligently focusing on improving the efficiencies and capabilities of its core businesses. The company is constantly on the lookout for opportunistic acquisitions to supplement its organic growth. However, IR operates in a competitive market place, which necessitates sustained investments in R&D initiatives to stay ahead of competition, thereby increasing its costs.

With rising operating costs and adverse currency translation effects gradually shrinking margins, investors have been eagerly waiting for the company’s latest earnings report.

In the last four trailing quarters, IR has reported a positive average earnings surprise of 0.4%, beating earnings estimates thrice. As the intensity of competition is increasing over time, investors have been eagerly awaiting for the company’s latest earnings report.

Currently, IR has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but that could definitely change following fourth-quarter earnings report which was just released. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below.

Earnings: IR matches earnings estimate. The Zacks Consensus Estimate called for EPS of $1.02 and the company reported adjusted continuing EPS of $1.02 as well.

Revenues: Revenues beat. IR posted revenues of $3,618.1 million, compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,516 million.

Key Stats to Note: IR offered bullish guidance for 2018. It expects adjusted EPS from continuing operations to be within $5.00 and $5.20, while revenues are expected to rise 5-5.5%. Cash flow from operating activities is expected to be in the range of $1.45 billion to $1.55 billion, with free cash flow between $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion.

Stock Price: Share prices did not show any movement in the pre-market trading following the release at the time of this write-up.

Check back for our full write up on this IR earnings report later!

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