Louisiana-Pacific tumbles as Q4 report, forecasts disappoint

Louisiana-Pacific

19/02/2025 16:42

** Shares of Louisiana-Pacific  LPX.N  down 9.5% at $102.20
after building products firm's qtrly results, guidance fail to
enthuse
    ** LPX shares on course for biggest one-day pct drop since
Aug 2, 2023. Stock falls as low as $97.90 on Weds, lowest since
late Oct
** Tennessee-based co early Weds posted Q4 sales of $681 mln, up
3% y/y, and adj EPS of $1.03. Analysts on avg had called for rev
of $666.8 mln and earnings of $0.86, per LSEG data
    ** Co said its siding business sales rose 9% from a year ago
to $362 mln, while sales of oriented strand board (OSB), used
for floors and roofs, decreased 2% to $267 mln
    ** Regarding its outlook, LPX projected current qtr siding
sales of $390-$400 mln (+9%-11% growth) and 2025 siding sales of
$1.65-$1.7 bln (+7%-9% growth)
    ** It anticipates adj EBITDA of $130-$150 mln in Q1 and
$615-$635 mln for the full year
    ** In a flash research note, TD Cowen said while Q4 results
were near its expectations, Q1 EBITDA guidance implies a
slowdown in OSB segment contributions 
    ** Of 10 brokerages covering LPX,  recommendation breakdown
is 3 "buy", 5 "hold" and 2 "sell"; median PT of $123 up from
$117 on Nov 19 - LSEG
    ** With move on the session, shares dip into the red YTD  by
~1%, but are up 50% over the past 12 months

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))