Eagle Materials, Inc. (NYSE:EXP) intends to report its Q3 earnings after the close of business on January 28. Shares have contracted more than 11% so far this year. Management will host a conference call a day after the earnings release on January 29.
Investors have recently soured on Eagle Materials partly because of its exposure to the freefalling oil industry. Eagle provides sand for fracking wells. The fears over Eagle’s future seem to ignore its strong cement business though. The company still has a strong balance sheet and there is hope that the company is well-positioned to weather the storms in its industries better than the competition because it is more diversified.
Earnings highlight
Eagle’s last quarterly report showed EPS of $1.11 on revenue of $329 million. Both EPS and revenue missed the consensus estimates of $1.19 and $346 million respectively.
Analyst sentiments
A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the prospects of Eagle, with calls in both directions. D.A. Davidson trimmed their price target on Eagle to $70 from $76 on their recent note on the stock. Citigroup has also had a say on the future of Eagle, initiating coverage of the stock with a Buy rating. CL King reiterating Buy rating on it, setting a price target of $80.
At Goldman Sachs, Eagle was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $79. Zacks upgraded the stock to Hold from a Sell while Longbow Research downgraded it to Neutral from Buy. The earnings report on the 28th will reveal how heavily the company has been affected by declines in the energy markets. Natural gas however has moved higher since December however, which could give Eagle some relief in its fracking business.
