Take a pass on Exco Technologies, says Industrial Alliance

Tech company to the die-cast, extrusion and automotive industries, Exco Technologies (Exco Technologies Stock Quote, Chart TSX:XTC) gets a target price demotion from analyst Nav Malik of Industrial Alliance Securities, who in a research update on Thursday maintained his “Hold” rating with the new target of $9.50, down from $10.50.

Exco released its financial results for the second quarter ended March 31, 2019, on Wednesday, coming in with revenues of $123 million, down from $148 million a year earlier, and EBITDA of $16.3 million, also lower than the $19.0-million from Q2 2018.

“Exco confronted a number of challenges during the quarter, which hampered our financial performance,” said Darren Kirk, Exco’s President and CEO, in a press release. “Nonetheless, our underlying operations remain very sound and we fully expect to demonstrate stronger results in the quarters ahead.”

The company’s bottom line came in lower than expected, according to Malik, who was forecasting EBITDA of $21.5 million (the consensus estimate was $21.0 million). Malik said that both the automotive solutions and casting and extrusion segments were hit with higher costs which led to reduced profitability. A strike in Mexico impacted Exco’s labour, freight and overtime costs in Automotive, while higher G&A costs and unfavourable foreign exchange rates cut into Casting and Extrusion.

As a result, Malik has lowered his EBITDA estimates by seven to eight per cent, now calling for fiscal 2019 revenue and EBITDA of $520.9 million (previously $529.9 million) and $74.2 million (previously $80.5 million), respectively.

“Exco reported results that were below expectations. Despite a focus on sales efforts, Exco’s revenue was relatively flat year-over-year. In addition, higher costs in both the AS and C&E segments negatively impacted profitability,” says Malik.

The analyst’s new target price represents a projected return on investment of 7.6 per cent at the time of publication.