Acuity Brands' Q4 Earnings & Sales Top Estimates, Stock Up

Core Insights - Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI) reported strong fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 results, with earnings and net sales exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate, marking the 18th consecutive quarter of earnings beats [1][2] Financial Performance - Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) for Q4 were $4.30, surpassing the consensus estimate of $4.19 by 2.6%, and increased 8.3% from the previous year's EPS of $3.97 [2] - Net sales reached $1.03 billion, beating the consensus mark of $1.01 billion by 2.3%, and improved 2.2% from the prior-year quarter [2] Segment Performance - The ABL segment saw a modest sales increase of 1.1% to $955 million, while the Independent Sales Network and Direct Sales Network reported slight increases of 0.2% [3] - Retail sales in the ABL segment declined 8.6% year over year, while Corporate Accounts channel sales increased 24.6% [3] - The Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG) generated net sales of $83.9 million, up 16.7% year over year, with adjusted operating profit rising 51.4% to $21.5 million [4] Operating Highlights - Adjusted operating profit increased 10% year over year to $178.5 million, with an adjusted operating margin of 17.3%, up 120 basis points [5] - Adjusted EBITDA rose 9.3% to $191.3 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin expanding 120 basis points to 18.5% [5] Fiscal Year Overview - For the full fiscal year 2024, net sales declined 2.8% to $3.84 billion, while adjusted operating profit increased 7.1% to $639.6 million [6] - The ABL segment's net sales decreased 4.0% to $3.57 billion, but adjusted operating profit rose 5.7% to $624.2 million [7] - ISG reported net sales of $291.9 million for fiscal 2024, a 15.5% increase, with adjusted operating profit up 26.5% to $63.4 million [7] Financial Position - At the end of fiscal 2024, Acuity Brands had cash and cash equivalents of $845.8 million, up from $397.9 million at the end of fiscal 2023 [8] - Long-term debt slightly increased to $496.2 million from $495.6 million [8] - Cash provided by operating activities totaled $619.2 million, up 7.1% from the previous year, with free cash flow increasing 8.6% to $555.2 million [8]