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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 and EPS Surprise
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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