Eagle Materials Inc. Faces a Challenging Quarter.

• Eagle Materials Inc. reported a decrease in earnings per share (EPS) to $2.24, missing analyst expectations.
• Revenue for the quarter was approximately $476.7 million, showing a modest year-over-year growth of 1.4%.
• The company announced record fiscal year 2024 revenue of $2.3 billion and a 9% rise in diluted EPS to $13.61.

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP), a key player in the building products, concrete, and aggregates industry, recently disclosed its financial outcomes for the quarter ending March 2024. The company, known for its significant contributions to construction and building materials, faced a challenging quarter, as evidenced by its earnings per share (EPS) and revenue figures. These results are particularly noteworthy as they provide insights into the company's performance against Wall Street's expectations and its financial health over the past year.

For the fiscal fourth quarter, EXP reported earnings per share of $2.24, which did not meet the anticipated $2.72 set by analysts. This represents a notable decrease from the previous year's EPS of $2.79, marking a -17.65% surprise against expectations. Such a decline in EPS is a critical indicator of the company's profitability challenges during the quarter, despite having outperformed earnings forecasts in the preceding quarter with a positive surprise of 4.49%.

On the revenue front, Eagle Materials reported approximately $476.7 million, slightly missing the Zacks consensus estimate by 0.40%. This figure, however, represents a modest year-over-year growth of 1.4% from $470.13 million, showcasing the company's ability to increase its revenue despite the market's tough conditions. It's important to note that this is only the second time in the last four quarters that the company has not surpassed consensus revenue estimates, highlighting the variability in its financial performance.

For the fiscal year 2024, Eagle Materials announced a record revenue of $2.3 billion, a 5% increase from the previous year, and net earnings of $477.6 million, up by 3%. These figures, along with a 9% rise in diluted earnings per share to $13.61 and a 7% improvement in adjusted EBITDA to $834.5 million, underscore the company's strong performance over the year. The repurchase of 1.9 million shares, investing $343 million back into the company, further demonstrates Eagle Materials' commitment to enhancing shareholder value.

In terms of valuation metrics, EXP's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio stands at approximately 17.28, indicating the market's valuation of its earnings. The price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of about 3.69, along with the enterprise value-to-sales (EV/Sales) ratio of roughly 4.17, reflects the company's market valuation in relation to its sales. Additionally, the enterprise value to operating cash flow (EV/OCF) ratio of approximately 16.74 and an earnings yield of about 5.79% offer insights into the company's profitability and valuation from an investor's perspective. The debt-to-equity (D/E) ratio of around 0.84 and a current ratio of approximately 2.62 suggest the company's financial leverage and liquidity status, respectively. These metrics are crucial for investors to understand Eagle Materials' financial health and market position.