Nordson Reports Q1 Fiscal 2024 Results, Narrows Annual Guidance

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Nordson Corporation reported results for the fiscal first quarter ended January 31, 2024. Sales were $633 million, a 4% increase compared to the prior year’s first quarter sales of $610 million. The increase in first quarter 2024 sales included a favorable acquisition impact of 5%, partially offset by an organic sales decrease of 2%. The organic sales decrease was driven by ongoing pressure in electronics product lines, partially offset by growth in medical interventional, industrial and polymer processing product lines.

Net income was $110 million, or $1.90 of earnings per diluted share, compared to prior year’s first quarter net income of $104 million, or $1.81 of earnings per diluted share. Adjusted net income was $128 million, a $4 million increase from the prior year adjusted net income of $123 million. First quarter 2024 adjusted earnings per diluted share were $2.21, a 3% increase from the prior year adjusted earnings per diluted share of $2.14. The increase was driven by higher operating profit, partially offset by increased interest expense.

EBITDA in the first quarter was $197 million, or 31% of sales, compared to prior year EBITDA of $181 million, or 30% of sales. The 9% increase in EBITDA was a result of higher operating profit, driven by improved gross margins year-over-year.

Commenting on the Company’s fiscal 2024 first quarter results, Nordson President and Chief Executive Officer Sundaram Nagarajan said, “Sales results were in line with our first quarter expectations. The segments delivered a strong operating performance exceeding our first quarter earnings guidance. This is a great example of our entrepreneurial teams using NBS Next to meet the needs of our customers, while also taking strategic actions that position them for future profitable growth. I am particularly pleased with the solid performance of our IPS and MFS segments during the quarter, while ATS continued to manage the ongoing weakness of the electronics end market. The ARAG acquisition integration continued to make steady progress and contributed to our sales and EBITDA margin performance in the quarter.”

First Quarter Segment Results

Industrial Precision Solutions sales of $355 million increased 14% from the prior year, inclusive of an 11% acquisition impact. The organic sales increase of 2% was driven primarily by industrial coatings, polymer processing and nonwovens product lines. Operating profit was $108 million, an increase of $6 million from the prior year. EBITDA in the quarter was $126 million, or 36% of sales, a 16% increase from the prior year first quarter EBITDA of $109 million, or 35% of sales. The year-over-year increase was driven by the ARAG acquisition and higher organic sales and gross profit.

Medical and Fluid Solutions sales of $160 million increased 3% compared to the prior year first quarter. The increase was driven by growth in the medical interventional solutions product lines. Operating profit was $46 million, an increase of $7 million from the prior year. EBITDA in the quarter was $60 million, or 37% of sales, a 13% increase from the prior year first quarter EBITDA of $53 million, or 34% of sales. The increase in EBITDA was driven by both higher sales and improved gross margins.

Advanced Technology Solutions sales of $119 million decreased 18% compared to the prior year first quarter. The organic sales decrease was driven by weakness across the segment, primarily electronics dispense products serving semiconductor end markets. Operating profit was $19 million, an increase of $2 million from the prior year amount, which included acquisition-related expenses for the CyberOptics acquisition. EBITDA in the quarter was $22 million, or 19% of sales, a 28% decrease from the prior year first quarter EBITDA of $31 million, or 21% of sales. The decrease was driven by lower sales.

Outlook

The Company is entering the second quarter of fiscal 2024 with approximately $750 million in backlog, which continues to normalize and remain concentrated in systems businesses. Based on current visibility and order entry trends, the Company is narrowing its previously issued full-year revenue growth to 4% to 7% over record fiscal 2023 and adjusted earnings per diluted share to the range of $10.00 to $10.50 per diluted share. Second quarter fiscal 2024 sales are forecasted in the range of $645 to $670 million with adjusted earnings in the range of $2.20 to $2.35 per diluted share.

As previously announced, the Company’s definition of adjusted earnings now excludes acquisition related amortization for both current and historical periods. It is not possible for the Company to identify the amount or significance of future adjustments associated with acquisition and integration costs, restructuring costs, acquisition-related amortization, certain non-operating or income tax items, or other non-routine costs that the Company adjusts in the presentation of adjusted earnings guidance. These items are dependent on future events that are not reasonably estimable at this time. Accordingly, the Company is unable to reconcile without unreasonable effort the forecasted range of adjusted earnings guidance to a comparable GAAP range.