Core Insights - Avery Dennison Corporation (AVY) reported adjusted earnings of $2.42 per share for Q2 2025, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.38, with year-over-year earnings remaining flat [1][10] - Total revenues decreased by 0.7% year over year to $2.22 billion, slightly missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.23 billion [2][10] - The company expects adjusted EPS for Q3 2025 to be between $2.24 and $2.40 [8] Financial Performance - The cost of sales increased by 0.6% year over year to $1.58 billion, leading to a gross profit decline of 3.6% to $639 million [2] - Marketing, general, and administrative expenses were reduced to $352 million from $374 million in the previous year, with adjusted operating profit around $287 million, flat compared to the prior year [3] - The adjusted operating margin remained stable at 12.9% [3] Segment Performance - Revenues in the Materials Group segment rose by 0.2% year over year to $1.55 billion, exceeding estimates, but organic sales fell by 1% [4] - The Solutions Group experienced a 2.6% revenue decline year over year to $670 million, with organic sales down by 0.8% [5] Cash and Debt Position - Avery Dennison returned $503 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends in the first half of 2025, repurchasing 2 million shares [6] - The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $216 million, up from $209 million a year ago, while long-term debt increased to $2.63 billion from $2.05 billion [7] Stock Performance - Avery Dennison shares have declined by 18.7% over the past year, compared to a 6.1% decline in the industry [11]

Company Overview - Sterling Infrastructure stock has gained notoriety amid President Joe Biden's $12 trillion infrastructure bill [1] - The company is a top performer in the industrial product sector and has continued to hit new all-time highs [2] - Sterling Infrastructure's total backlog currently stands at around $2 billion, providing a solid cushion for future revenue [8] Stock Performance - STRL has spiked nearly 100% over the last year and is up more than 40% year to date [3] - The stock has seen gains of more than 2,400% in the last 5 years [3] - Sterling Infrastructure stock lends a Zach's rank number three hold at the moment [14] Strategic Initiatives - Sterling Infrastructure announced in June that it will be acquiring CEC facilities group for $55 million, expanding its reach into mission critical electrical contracting for semiconductors and other data center projects [5] - The CEC acquisition is expected to add nearly $400 million to Sterling Infrastructure's topline this year alone and over $50 million in EBITDA [5] - Sterling Infrastructure has secured several AI related projects, including one with a reward of up to $100 million for a massive data center development in the southeastern United States [5] - The company focuses on high margin projects such as AI endeavors and the Hyundai engineering America facility in Georgia [6] Financial Outlook - Sterling Infrastructure's total sales are expected to dip 1% in fiscal 2025 to around $209 billion, but are expected to rebound in fiscal year 26 and rise about 8% to a new peak of $226 billion [9] - Sterling Infrastructure's bottom line is slated to expand 41% in fiscal year 25 to new peaks of $861 per share from record EPS of $610 last year [9] - Fiscal year 26 EPS is projected to spike another 10% to $948 [10] Valuation - Sterling Infrastructure stock trades at 281% times forward earnings, a slight premium to the benchmark S&P 500's 242% times forward earnings multiple and it Zach's engineering R&D services industry average of 227% times [11]