Emerson reports weak quarter on hit from supply snarls, raises sales forecast
(Reuters) -Industrial conglomerate Emerson Electric Co missed Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit and revenue on Wednesday as lingering supply-chain snags affected its efforts to tap into a booming demand for automation.
The company’s shares fell 5% to $86.02, even as Emerson slightly raised its full-year sales growth outlook.
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A semiconductor shortage coupled with supply woes has weighed on Emerson at a time when demand remains robust from companies racing to add robots and revamp their assembly lines to offset a labor crunch.
The company has struck a string of deals over the last few years to turn into a provider of automation products and services, and recently disclosed a hostile $7 billion bid for National Instruments Corp to strengthen that business.
“We continue to actively pursue opportunities to deploy capital effectively,” Emerson Chief Executive Lal Karsanbhai said in a statement. The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $2.27 billion.
Meanwhile, the company said it sees no signs of weakness, but added that it will be carefully watching the automotive sector.
“Chemical investments, plant modernization and sustainability remain steady in North America and Asia, but we are keeping a close eye on this market as we assess our outlook for the balance of 2023,” Chief Financial Officer Frank Dellaquila said.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned 78 cents per share, compared with analysts’ estimates of 87 cents, according to Refinitiv data.
Revenue rose 7% to $3.37 billion, but fell short of estimates of $3.43 billion.
Emerson said it now expects net sales growth of 8% to 10% for 2023, higher than its previous forecast of 7% to 9%.
(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shounak Dasgupta)