Renee Peterson
Analyst · Longbow Research. David MacGregor, your line is open
Thank you, Rick and good morning everyone. We delivered record results in the third quarter by driving operational excellence and profitability improvements. While the overall supply chain environment remains dynamic, our team continued to adapt and execute well. We grew net sales to $1.16 billion, an increase of 18.8% compared to the third quarter of last year. Reported and adjusted diluted EPS for the quarter were both $1.19, up from $0.89 and $0.92 respectively in the third quarter a year ago. Professional segment net sales for the third quarter were $886.2 million, up 23.3% year-over-year. This growth was primarily driven by net price realization, increased shipments of zero-turn and stand-on mowers and incremental revenue from our acquisition of the Intimidator Group earlier this fiscal year. This was partially offset by lower volumes in certain key product categories due to product availability constraints. Professional segment earnings for the third quarter were $166.2 million, and when expressed as a percent of net sales, 18.8%. This was up from 17% in the third quarter of last year. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to net price realization, productivity improvements and net sales leverage. This was partially offset by higher material freight and manufacturing costs and the addition of the Intimidator Group at a lower initial margin relative to the segment average. Residential segment net sales for the third quarter were $270 million, up 7.1% from last year despite unfavorable hot and dry weather patterns in certain regions this year. This builds on the 23% year-over-year growth we reported in the third quarter of fiscal 2021 and 38% year-over-year growth in the third quarter of fiscal 2020. The increase for this quarter was primarily driven by net price realization and higher shipments of zero-turn riding mowers and snow products. This was partially offset by lower sales of walk-power mowers and portable-power products. Residential segment earnings for the quarter were $26.3 million and when expressed as a percent of net sales, 9.8%. This was down from 12.5% for the third quarter last year. The year-over-year decrease was primarily driven by higher material freight and manufacturing costs partially offset by increased net price realization, productivity improvements and favorable product mix. Turning to our operating results. In the third quarter, reported and adjusted gross margin were both 34.5%. This was a 60 basis point improvement compared to 33.9% for both in the same period last year. The year-over-year increases were primarily due to net price realization and productivity improvements partially offset by higher material freight and manufacturing costs and the addition of Intimidator Group at a lower initial gross margin relative to the company average. With our strong operational execution, we achieved a 200 basis point sequential improvement in adjusted gross margin compared to the second quarter of this year. We continue to manage the factors within our control and are focused on restoring and improving margins over the long-term. SG&A expense as a percent of net sales for the quarter was 20.5% compared to 21.4% in the same period last year. This improvement was primarily driven by a one-time legal settlement in the prior year period and net sales leverage. This was partially offset by higher indirect marketing expenses. Operating earnings as a percent of net sales for the third quarter were 14%, up from 12.5% in the same period last year. Adjusted operating earnings as a percent of net sales for the quarter were 14.1%, up from 13.1% in the same period a year ago. Interest expense for the quarter was $9.2 million, up $2.2 million from the same period last year. This was driven by incremental borrowing to fund our first quarter acquisition as well as higher average interest rates. The reported and adjusted effective tax rates for the third quarter were 20.3% and 20.7% respectively compared to 18% and 19.3% respectively in the same period a year ago. Turning to the balance sheet, accounts receivable were $351 million, up 16% from a year ago, primarily driven by higher organic sales and our acquisition of the Intimidator Group. Inventory was $939 million, up 41% compared to last year. This increase was driven by higher finished goods, work in process and service parts. In addition, this includes the impact of inflation and incremental inventory from our acquisition. We made progress on reducing raw materials and work-in-process balances from Q2 to Q3 this year. And we expect our inventory composition and turns to normalize as we manage through this unique environment into fiscal 2023. Accounts payable increased 18% from last year to $487 million. This was primarily driven by higher purchase activity and inflation, improved payment terms and the acquisition. During the quarter, we issued 10-year private placement notes to refinance $100 million of outstanding revolver borrowings. This was the final step in our planned refinancing related to the Intimidator Group acquisition. We also paid down $35 million of debt in the quarter. We remain within our gross debt-to-EBITDA target ratio of 1 to 2x. We continue to follow our disciplined capital allocation approach, supported by a strong balance sheet. Our priorities remain: making strategic investments in our business to support long-term profitable growth, both organically and through acquisitions, returning cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, and maintaining our leverage goals to support financial flexibility. These priorities are highlighted by our actions this year, which include our plan to deploy approximately $140 million in capital expenditures to fund capacity, productivity and new product investments, our $400 million acquisition of Intimidator Group in January and a return of $204 million to shareholders year-to-date with $94 million in regular dividends and $110 million in share repurchases. We are entering the fourth quarter with strong momentum, and we’re encouraged by the incremental supply chain and operational improvements we are seeing. As Rick mentioned, we are updating our full year fiscal 2022 guidance based on current visibility. For the full year, we now expect net sales growth of about 14%. This change reflects our expectation for the ongoing normalization of residential demand trends and takes into account the impact of unfavorable weather patterns this spring and summer. For the residential segment, we anticipate full year net sales growth in the mid-single digits. For the professional segment, we continue to expect net sales growth above the company average. Looking at gross margins, we have made sequential improvement in each of the three quarters of the year. Taking into account current macro factors and the addition of Intimidator Group, we continue to expect fiscal 2022 gross margins to be slightly below fiscal 2021 levels. Moving to operating earnings. For the full year, we continue to expect adjusted operating earnings as a percent of net sales to be similar to fiscal 2021. This takes into account the operational improvements we are realizing, the expectations for continued supply chain and inflationary pressures as well as our acquisition of the Intimidator Group. This also anticipates more normalized SG&A spending in our fourth quarter of fiscal 2022. And as we expect to continue to engage more directly with our customers and prioritize strategic research and development investments, we expect the full year professional segment margin to be slightly higher than last year and the residential segment margin to be lower. We are confident as we close out the fiscal year, and we’re raising our full year adjusted diluted EPS guidance to a range of $4.07 to $4.17. As a reminder, our adjusted diluted EPS guidance excludes the benefit of the excess tax deduction for stock compensation as well as one-time acquisition-related costs. We are also updating our free cash flow conversion guidance to a range of 60% to 80% of reported net earnings. This reflects the working capital investments we are making as we manage through this time of constrained supply. We expect free cash flow to revert to a more typical conversion rate in fiscal 2023 as we work to normalize inventory levels. In addition, we continue to expect depreciation and amortization of about $120 million, interest expense of about $36 million and an adjusted effective tax rate of about 21%. We remain focused on building our business for the long-term as we execute on our strategic priorities and make prudent investments to support future growth. I will now turn the call back to Rick.