Yahoo Finance Lear's (LEA) Q1 Earnings Beat, Revenues Match Estimates
Lear Corp. LEA reported first-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $3.18 per share, which increased from $2.78 recorded in the year-ago quarter and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.04 per share. In the reported quarter, revenues increased 2.5% year over year to $6 billion and were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Lear Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Lear Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Lear Corporation Quote
Segment Performance
Sales of the Seating segment totaled $4.47 billion in the reported quarter, up from $4.45 billion generated in the year-ago quarter billion, thanks to solid backlog, partly offset by unfavorable platform mix. Adjusted segment earnings came in at $294.9 million, down from $300.4 million recorded in the year-ago quarter. The segment recorded adjusted margins of 6.6% of sales, compared with 6.7% recorded in the previous year's quarter.
Sales of the E-Systems segment were $1.5 billion, up 7.1% year over year on a solid backlog and favorable platform mix. Adjusted segmental earnings amounted to $77.1 million, up from $48.9 million in the corresponding quarter of 2023. For the E-Systems segment, the adjusted margin was 5.1% of sales, up from 3.5% in the year-ago quarter.
Performance by Region
Sales in the North America region increased 4% year over year to $2.47 billion in the quarter under review. Sales in the Europe and Africa region grew 1% year over year to $2.25 billion. Sales in the Asia region totaled $1.06 billion in the quarter, rising 4% year over year. Sales in the South America region totaled $205.2 million in the quarter, down from $215 million generated in the year-ago period.
Financial Position
The company had $930.4 million in cash and cash equivalents as of Mar 31, 2024, compared with $1.19 billion recorded as of Dec 31, 2023. Long-term debt was $2.74 billion as of Mar 31, 2024, at similar levels with 2023 end.
During the quarter under discussion, net cash used in operating activities totaled $34.6 million. In the reported period, capital expenditure amounted to $113.6 million. The company registered negative free cash flow (“FCF”) of $148.2 million in the quarter.
During the quarter, LEA repurchased 215,774 shares of its common stock for a total of $30 million. In February 2024, the company boosted its buyback authorization to $1.5 billion. At the end of the quarter, Lear had a remaining share repurchase authorization of nearly $1.5 billion, which will expire on Dec 31, 2026.
2024 Guidance
Lear projects its full-year net sales in the band of $24-$24.6 billion, up from $23.5 billion recorded in 2023. Core operating earnings are envisioned in the range of $1.15-$1.30 billion, marking an uptick from $1.12 billion generated in 2023.
Operating cash flow is projected to be between $1.27 billion and $1.42 billion compared with $1.25 million generated in 2023. Lear anticipates FCF in the band of $600-$750 million compared with $638.2 million generated in 2023. Capital spending is now forecast to be around $675 million, up from $626.5 million registered in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA is envisioned to be between $1.79 billion and $1.94 billion.
Lear currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Peer Releases
Oshkosh Corporation OSK reported first-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $2.89 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.26. The bottom line also rose from $1.59 per share recorded in the year-ago period. Consolidated net sales climbed 12.2% year over year to $2.54 billion. The top line also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.51 billion.OSK had cash and cash equivalents of $69.9 million as of Mar 31, 2024, compared with $125.4 million as of Dec 31, 2023. The company recorded a long-term debt of $598.9 million, up from $597.5 million as of Dec 31, 2023.
BorgWarner BWA reported adjusted earnings of $1.03 per share for first-quarter 2024, down from $1.09 per share recorded in the prior-year quarter. The bottom line, however, surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 87 cents. It reported net sales of $3.6 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.52 billion. The top line, however, declined 13.9% year over year. As of Mar 31, 2024, BorgWarner had $1.03 billion in cash/cash equivalents/restricted cash compared with $1.53 billion as of Dec 31, 2023. As of Mar 31, long-term debt was $3.3 billion, down from $3.7 billion recorded on Dec 31, 2023.
Gentex Corp. GNTX reported first-quarter 2024 adjusted EPS of 47 cents, which came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate and grew 12% year over year. It reported net sales of $590.2 million, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $600 million but increased 7% from the year-ago period. Gentex had cash and cash equivalents of about $249 million as of Mar 31, 2024. GNTX had nearly 14.7 million shares remaining for buyback as of Mar 31.
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