Dycom Industries Inc.’s DY shares lost more than 30% post fourth-quarter fiscal 2019 (ended Jan 26, 2019) results, wherein adjusted earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 41.2% but revenues beat the same by 4%.
The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 10 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 41.2% and declining from the prior-year profit level of 12 cents. Dycom Chairman and CEO Steven Nielsen called the results “disappointing,” and blamed the tighter-than-expected margins on difficulties in large account.
The company pointed out that although major customers have stepped up infrastructure spending, higher-than-expected costs have pressurized Dycom’s margins. Bankruptcy of a major customer is also expected to weigh on the company’s results going forward. These factors have prompted it to issue earnings guidance well below the consensus mark.
Revenue Discussion
Dycom’s fiscal fourth-quarter contract revenues of $748.6 million were up 14.3% year over year and topped the consensus mark by 4%. Organic revenues also increased 13.7% year over year during the quarter, backed by deployment of 1-gigabit wireline networks, wireless/wireline converged networks and wireless networks. Notably, organic revenues exclude $20.4 million of storm restoration services and contract revenues of $5.9 million from an acquired business in the reported quarter.
Its top five customers contributed 79.7% to total contract revenues, increasing 19.4% organically. AT&T, Dycom’s largest customer, accounted for 21% of the total revenues. AT&T grew 12.5% organically. Verizon contributed 20.9% and was up 77.2% organically; Comcast accounted for 19.2% and grew 0.9% organically; CenturyLink added 14.6% and grew 2.5%; and Windstream comprised 3.9% of the total revenues. However, revenues from all other customers declined 3.6% organically in the said quarter.
Dycom’s backlog came in at $7.33 billion as of Jan 26, 2018 versus $7.313 billion at October 2018-end.
Operating Highlights
Gross margin of 15.4% was below the company’s expectations as margins were impacted by the costs of a large customer program.
Adjusted EBITDA came in at $59.8 million or 8% of contract revenues compared with $59.6 million or 9.1% in the year-ago quarter.
Fiscal 2019 Highlights
Adjusted earnings came in at $2.78 per share, down from $3.88 a year ago. However, contract revenues of $3.13 billion increased from $2.97 billion a year ago.
Adjusted EBITDA was $330.0 million or 10.5% of contract revenues in the fiscal year compared with $383.5 million or 12.9% in fiscal 2018.
Financials
The company had cash and cash equivalents of $128.3 million as of Jan 26, 2019 compared with $84 million on Jan 27, 2018.
Long-term debt was $867.6 million at the end of fiscal 2019 compared with $733.8 million at fiscal 2018-end.
First Quarter of Fiscal 2020 Guidance
The company anticipates contract revenues in the range of $750-$800 million, below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $784 million. Adjusted earnings are anticipated within 34-56 cents per share, well below the consensus mark of 78 cents for the quarter. Dycom expects adjusted EBITDA (as a percentage of contract revenues) to decrease from the year ago period.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Dycom currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Construction sector include Altair Engineering Inc. ALTR, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. JEC and Frontdoor, Inc. FTDR, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Altair Engineering, Jacobs and Frontdoor’s earnings for the current year are expected to grow 69.8%, 13.4% and 10.5%, respectively.
Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2019
In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-holds for the year?
Who wouldn't? Our annual Top 10s have beaten the market with amazing regularity. In 2018, while the market dropped -5.2%, the portfolio scored well into double-digits overall with individual stocks rising as high as +61.5%. And from 2012-2017, while the market boomed +126.3, Zacks' Top 10s reached an even more sensational +181.9%.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Be the first to comment