HURC Stock Up Despite Y/Y Decline in Q3 Earnings, Gross Margin Down

Hurco Companies, Inc. HURC delivered a loss per share of $1.47 in the third quarter of fiscal 2024 against the year-ago quarter’s earnings per share of 4 cents.

HURC Revenues in Detail

Hurco registered revenues of $42.7 million in the fiscal third quarter, down 19.8% year over year.

Dismal performances by all the geographic regions dampened the topline.

Shares of this company gained 3.1% till last trading.

Hurco’s Geographic Results

Hurco operates in three geographic regions — the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Sales in the Americas for the third quarter of fiscal 2024 were $15.4 million, down 15.8% year over year. This decline resulted primarily due to decreased shipments of Hurco and Takumi machines. The decrease in sales of these machines was primarily attributable to reduced shipments of Hurco and Takumi 3-axis vertical machines, partially offset by increased sales of higher-performing Hurco 5-axis machines and Milltronics 3-axis vertical machines.

Sales in Europe were $24.1 million, down 22.8% year over year. The year-over-year decline in European sales was primarily attributable to a decreased volume of shipments of Hurco and Takumi machines in Germany, Italy and the UK, as well as reduced shipments of electro-mechanical components and accessories manufactured by Hurco’s wholly-owned subsidiary, LCM.

Sales in Asia Pacific were $3.2 million, down 15.2% year over year. The decline was attributable to decreased shipments of Takumi machines in China and Hurco machines in Southeast Asia, which was partially offset by increased shipments of Hurco machines in India and one customer with multiple machine orders in China.

HURC’s Order Details

Hurco’s orders in the third quarter of fiscal 2024 were $52.8 million, up 25.5% year over year.

For the quarter under review, orders in the Americas were $17.6 million, up 20.7% year over year. The increase in orders primarily resulted from increased customer demand for Hurco’s higher-performing 5-axis machines, Hurco and Milltronics lathes, and Milltronics 3-axis vertical machines.

Orders in Europe were $28.3 million, up 14.5% year over year. The increase in orders was driven primarily by increased customer demand for Hurco machines in the UK, France and Italy, particularly Hurco lathes and higher-performing 5-axis machines.

Orders in Asia Pacific were $6.8 million, up 151.2% year over year. The surge was driven primarily by increased customer demand for Hurco and Takumi machines in China, India and Southeast Asia. The increased customer demand for Hurco machines in China and India is related primarily to two customers with multiple machine orders.

Hurco Gross Margin

In the quarter under review, Hurco’s gross profit decreased 41.7% year over year to $7.8 million. The gross margin contracted 689 basis points (bps) to 18.4%.

HURC’s Operating Expenses Analysis

In the fiscal third quarter, selling, general and administrative expenses decreased 16.6% to $10.4 million year over year.

Hurco’s Profitability

In the reported quarter, Hurco’s operating loss totaled $2.5 million, against the year-ago quarter’s operating profit of $1 million.

In the fiscal third quarter, Hurco’s net loss was $9.6 million, against the net income of $0.3 million in the prior-year quarter.

HURC’s Liquidity & Debt Management

Hurco exited third-quarter fiscal 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $36.1 million compared with $37.5 million at the fiscal second-quarter end.

The company had no outstanding debt at the fiscal third-quarter end.

Cumulative net cash used for operating activities at the end of third-quarter fiscal 2024 was $1.3 million compared with $16.2 million a year ago.

Our Take

Hurco exited the third quarter of fiscal 2024 with disappointing top-line and bottom-line results. The company’s dismal geographic results raise apprehension. The gross margin contraction also does not bode well.

On a positive note, improvement in order performances during the quarter was encouraging.

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