ABB Earnings & Revenues Miss Estimates In Q4, Orders Up Y/Y
Zacks Investment Research | Feb 28, 2019 10:31PM ET
ABB Ltd. (NYSE:ABB) reported weaker-than-expected results in fourth-quarter 2018, wherein both earnings and revenues missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Operational earnings in the quarter were 30 cents per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 40 cents by 25%. The bottom line also recorded a decline of 9.1% from the year-ago figure of 33 cents.
For 2018, the company’s operational earnings came in at $1.33 per share, up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis.
Inside the Headlines
ABB’s fourth-quarter revenues totaled $7,395 million, up 8.7% from the year-ago quarter figure. The upside can be attributed to impressive growth at the Robotics and Motion segment in addition to the Electrification Products segment’s solid momentum. Revenue growth was steady at the Industrial Automation segment as well.
On a comparable basis, the top line grew 5% year over year but lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $10,170 million.
For 2018, ABB reported revenues of $27,662 million, up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis.
Total orders were $6,985 million, increasing 10% year over year. The metric also improved 7% on a comparable basis, backed by growth across most of regions and divisions, particularly in the United States and Brazil. While base orders grew 11%, large orders represented 5% of the company’s total orders. The order backlog at the quarter-end recorded an increase of 5% year over year.
On a geographic basis, businesses in most of the key operating regions were solid in the quarter under review. Revenues from European operations increased 5.5% year over year to $2,650 million. Orders in the region were solid and exhibited a 5% improvement. Meanwhile, revenues of $2,244 million from the Americas reflected an impressive growth of 27.6%. Orders from this region expanded 32%. Asia, Middle East and Africa segment generated revenues of $2,439 million, down 0.6% year over year. Orders in the reported quarter remained stable.
Book-to-bill ratio at the end of the fourth quarter was 0.94, up from 0.93 in the year-ago quarter. Notably, the metric at the end of 2018 was recorded at 1.03 compared with 0.99 in the previous year.
ABB Ltd Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
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