Compass Minerals International, Inc. CMP recorded a first-quarter fiscal 2024 (ended Dec 31, 2023) loss of $1.83 per share compared with a loss of a penny in the year-ago quarter.

Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings were 5 cents per share. It missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings of 24 cents.

Sales fell around 3% year over year to $341.7 million in the quarter. The figure lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $368.2 million. The results mainly reflect weaker Salt segment sales, partly offset by the gains in the Plant Nutrition segment.

Compass Minerals International, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Compass Minerals International, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Compass Minerals International, Inc. Quote

Segment Highlights

Sales in the Salt segment declined 11% year over year to $274.3 million in the reported quarter. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $319 million. The decline is the result of a decrease in sales volume, which is partially offset by an increase in average sales price.

The Plant Nutrition segment raked in revenues of $49.7 million in the quarter, up 19% year over year. It outpaced the consensus estimate of $47.9 million. The company's West Coast markets saw increased demand, resulting in a return to historical sales volumes in the quarter.

Financials

In the three months ended Dec 31, 2023, net cash utilized in operating activities was $65.6 million against net cash provided by operating activities of $2.1 million in the previous year. The year-over-year change was primarily due to higher working capital requirements.

The company had $245.8 million in liquidity at the end of the quarter, including $38.3 million in cash and cash equivalents and $207.5 million available through its $375 million revolving credit facility.

Outlook

For the Salt segment, for fiscal 2024, the company expects revenues to be in the range of $1,030-$1,110 million and adjusted EBITDA of $230-$270 million. For Plant Nutrition, revenues are forecasted in the band of $170-$205 million with adjusted EBITDA of $15-$35 million.

Total capital expenditures for fiscal 2024 are projected to be in the range of $120-$130 million.



Price Performance

Shares of Compass Minerals are down 42.1% in the past year compared with 21.1% decline of the industry. Zacks Investment Research

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Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Compass Minerals currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include Cameco Corporation CCJ, Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS and Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc. AMR.

Cameco, carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), has a projected earnings growth rate of 188% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CCJ’s current-year earnings has been revised upward by 12.5% in the past 60 days. The stock is up around 75.9% in a year. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Carpenter Technology currently carries a Zacks Rank #1. CRS beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters while matching it once, with the average earnings surprise being 12.2%. The company’s shares have soared 25.7% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMR’s current-year earnings has been revised upward by 69% in the past 60 days. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #1.  AMR delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 9.6%, on average. AMR shares are up around 133.6% in a year.

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