Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ:TITN) reported fiscal first-quarter results on Thursday that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, causing the company’s stock to rise 3.06% in pre-market trading.
For the quarter ending April 30, the agricultural and construction equipment supplier posted a loss of $0.58 per share, outperforming analyst predictions of a $0.91 loss. Revenue reached $594.3 million, well above the anticipated $465.1 million.
Despite beating estimates, Titan’s performance declined notably compared to the same period last year, when earnings were $0.41 per share on revenue of $628.7 million.
Bryan Knutson, Titan Machinery’s President and CEO, said, “Our fiscal first quarter results demonstrated our ability to advance our short term goals in a challenging market environment.” He explained that the stronger revenue was largely due to the timing of pre-sold equipment deliveries rather than a surge in demand.
Segment-wise, the agriculture division experienced a 14.1% year-over-year revenue drop to $384.4 million, while the construction segment remained steady with $72.1 million in revenue. The Europe segment stood out positively with a 44.2% increase, bringing in $93.9 million.
Titan Machinery maintained its full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance, forecasting a loss between ($1.25) and ($2.00), compared to the consensus estimate of ($1.80).
The company anticipates ongoing challenges in the agricultural market driven by low farmer profitability but is concentrating on reducing inventory and enhancing customer service to weather the tough conditions.
At quarter-end, Titan held $21.5 million in cash and reported $1.1 billion in inventory.