Four More Earnings Reports This Morning

We had four morning earnings reports this morning.

Let’s start with Moody’s (MCO). The credit-ratings agency earned $3.22 per share for Q2. That’s up 15% from last year. Expectations were for $2.74 per share.

Total revenue was up 8% to $1.6 billion. Breaking that down, Moody’s Investors Service was up 4% to $980 million. Moody’s Analytics was up 15% to $573 million. Moody’s adjusted operating margin was 55.4%.

Now for the best news. Moody’s raised its full-year guidance. They now see full-year earnings between $11.55 and $11.85 per share. The old range was $11.00 to $11.30 per share. This is its second increase in guidance. The original range was $10.30 to $10.70 per share.

“Moody’s impressive second quarter 2021 results reflect the strong demand for our increasingly comprehensive suite of risk assessment offerings as we help our customers make better decisions about a wider range of risks,” said Rob Fauber, President and Chief Executive Officer of Moody’s. “This quarter, Moody’s Investors Service revenue grew in the mid-single-digit percent range, benefitting from economic tailwinds that supported increased leveraged finance and CLO activity. In Moody’s Analytics, continued demand for KYC and compliance solutions, as well as research and data feeds, drove mid-teens revenue growth.”

For the first half of this year, Moody’s has made $7.28 per share. That’s up 31% over last year.

Silgan (SLGN) earned 85 cents per share for Q2. That was the top-end of their guidance which was 75 cents to 85 cents per share.

Silgan had record segment income for Dispensing and Specialty Closures and Custom Containers. Volume increased 10% over last year’s record volume.

Silgan is keeping its full-year range unchanged at $3.30 and $3.45 per share. The company is increasing its free cash flow guidance to $400 million. For Q3, Silgan sees earnings of 95 cents to $1.10 per share. Wall Street had been expecting $1.09 per share.

Stepan (SCL) reported Q2 earnings of $1.81 per share. The was two cents below expectations.

Looking at Stepan’s three divisions, Surfactant operating income was $45.9 million. That’s down from $48.5 million last year. Polymer operating income was $23.0 million compared with $15.5 million last year. The increase was largely due to a 44% increase in global sales volume. Specialty Product had operating income of $7.0 million versus $3.2 million last year.

Forex helped the bottom line by six cents per share.

“The Company had a solid first half of 2021 and delivered record year-to-date results. Both adjusted net income and adjusted EPS were up 35% versus the first half of 2020 which was negatively impact by the Millsdale plant outage,” said F. Quinn Stepan, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “For the quarter, Surfactant operating income was down 5% largely due to higher North American supply chain costs driven by inflationary pressures and higher planned maintenance. A 6% decline in global Surfactant sales volume, mostly related to our consumer product business, was more than offset by improved margins, product and customer mix. Our Polymer operating income was up 48% on the strength of 44% global sales volume growth. The Polymer growth was driven by both the INVISTA acquisition and organic market growth. Our Specialty Product business results were up due to higher volume and improved margins.”

During Q2, Stepan paid out nearly $7 million in dividends and bought back close to $10 million in shares.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) said that its Q2 earnings rose 44% to $5.60 per share. That beat the Street by 11 cents per share. Quarterly revenue grew 34% to $9.27 billion. Adjusted operating margin was 29.0%, compared with 27.0% in the second quarter of 2020.

Thermo is raising its revenue guidance for this year by $300 million to $35.90 billion. That’s a growth rate of 11%. Thermo is also raising its earnings guidance by 10 cents to $22.07 per share. That translates to growth of 13%.

Posted by on July 28th, 2021 at 10:41 am


The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.