MSC Industrial Q4 sales slightly beat on core customer growth

MSC Industrial Direct

Yesterday 12:19

Overview
US industrial distributor's fiscal Q4 sales rose 10%, slightly beating analyst expectations
Adjusted EPS for fiscal Q4 beat analyst consensus
Company cites strong core customer growth and gains in National Accounts

Outlook
Company expects Q1 fiscal 2027 average daily sales growth of 9.5% to 10.5%
MSC sees Q1 fiscal 2027 adjusted operating margin between 9.5% and 10.1%
Company expects full-year 2027 free cash flow conversion of about 80%-90%

Result Drivers
CORE CUSTOMER GROWTH - Co said core customer growth of about 10% was its strongest in over three years, helping drive record Q4 sales
PRICE AND VOLUME BENEFITS - CFO said average daily sales exceeded guidance due to price benefits and stronger volumes, yielding year-over-year improvement of 8.6%
COST STRUCTURE PROGRESS - CFO said further progress on cost structure contributed to adjusted operating margin of 10.9%, above outlook

Company press release: ID:nACS9mgKla

Key Details
Metric
Beat/Miss
Actual
Consensus Estimate
Q4 Sales
Slight Beat*
$1.08 bln
$1.07 bln (8 Analysts)
Q4 Adjusted EPS
Beat
$1.45
$1.41 (9 Analysts)
*Applies to a deviation of less than 1%; not applicable for per-share numbers.

Analyst Coverage
The current average analyst rating on the shares is "hold" and the breakdown of recommendations is 4 "strong buy" or "buy", 7 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"
The average consensus recommendation for the industrial machinery & equipment peer group is "buy."
Wall Street's median 12-month price target for MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. is $142.50, about 7.3% above its October 21 closing price of $132.82
The stock recently traded at 24 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 24 three months ago

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For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)