Summary(Comparisons are year-over-year ("YoY"), unless otherwise noted)
Preliminary third quarter sales of $903 million, a decrease of 4%, due to lower sales in China and North America water heating
Preliminary third quarter earnings per share ("EPS") of $0.82, a decrease of 9%
Preliminary cash provided by operations of $360 million and preliminary free cash flow of $283 million in the first nine months of 2024
Lowered full year EPS guidance to be between $3.70 and $3.85 compared to prior guidance of $3.95 to $4.10
MILWAUKEE, Oct. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Global water technology company A. O. Smith Corporation ("the Company") (NYSE:AOS) today announced preliminary third quarter results and provided revised full year guidance.
Key Financial Metrics
Preliminary Third Quarter
(in millions, except per share amounts)
Preliminary
Q3 2024
Q3 2023
% Change YoY
Net sales
$ 902.6
$ 937.5
-4 %
Diluted earnings per share
$ 0.82
$ 0.90
-9 %
A. O. Smith Announces Preliminary Third Quarter Results and Provides Revised 2024 Full Year Guidance
"As discussed on our second quarter earnings call, we saw increasing consumer demand headwinds in July which led us to be cautious about the back half of the year in China. Those headwinds were more challenging than we expected through the third quarter and, as a result, our constant currency sales to third parties declined 17% compared to last year. In North America, residential and commercial water heater orders were lower than expected in the third quarter and while we anticipated a quarter-over-quarter decline, order demand was weaker than expected in both the wholesale and retail channels. We believe our order demand was impacted by a larger than expected price increase-related pre-buy in the first half of the year and was also negatively influenced by our improved lead times. However, we entered the third quarter with solid residential water heater backlogs, which drove July shipments and partially offset the weak third quarter orders," noted Kevin J. Wheeler, chairman and chief executive officer. "While disappointed in the volumes in the quarter and the associated negative impact on our operational efficiencies, I'm pleased with our strong and stable customer relationships, our improved lead times and the actions that our teams initiated in response to market conditions."
Third Quarter 2024 Segment SalesNorth AmericaPreliminary third quarter sales of $703 million were slightly below 2023 sales of $710 million as pricing benefits and higher boiler and water treatment volumes in North America were offset by lower volumes of residential and commercial water heaters in North America.
Rest of WorldPreliminary third quarter sales of $210 million declined 10% year-over-year. Local currency third party sales in China decreased 17% in 2024, primarily due to lower volumes of our core water heating and water treatment products. Sales in India increased 12% in local currency year-over-year driven by continued strong ...
