Applied Industrial Guides FY22 EPS Above Estimates; Q4 Profit Nearly Doubles – Quick Facts

While reporting financial results for the fourth quarter on Tuesday, Applied Industrial Technologies Inc. (AIT) initiated earnings and sales growth guidance for the full-year 2022.

For fiscal 2022, the company now projects earnings in a range of $5.00 to $5.40 per share on sales growth 8 to 10 percent and organic sales growth of 7 to 9 percent.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $4.99 per share on revenue growth of 7.9 percent to $3.41 billion for the year. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

“While industry-wide supply chain constraints and macro uncertainty remain, we have multiple internal opportunities to drive solid earnings growth and stronger returns on capital in fiscal 2022 and beyond,” said Neil Schrimsher, President & CEO.

For the fourth quarter, the company reported net income of $59.24 million or $1.51 per share, sharply higher than $29.99 million or $0.77 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Net sales for the quarter increased 23.6 percent to $895.89 million from $725.08 million in the same quarter last year. Excluding acquisitions and foreign currency translation effects, sales increased 19.8 percent on an organic basis.

The Street was looking for earnings of $1.15 per share on revenues of $841.55 million for the quarter.

Sea Ltd Q2 Earnings Summary

Below are the earnings highlights for Sea Ltd (SE):

-Earnings: -$321.18 million in Q2 vs. -$317.67 million in the same period last year.
-EPS: -$0.61 in Q2 vs. -$0.68 in the same period last year.
-Analysts projected -$0.52 per share
-Revenue: $2.28 billion in Q2 vs. $0.88 billion in the same period last year.

Gold Extends Gains For Fifth Day

Gold prices rose for the fifth day running on Tuesday, with lower U.S. yields and worries over a spike in the COVID-19 Delta variant cases offering some support.

Spot gold inched up 0.4 percent to $1,794.01 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were up 0.3 percent at $1,795.55.

The yield on the benchmark 10-Year U.S. Treasury note slid to 1.223 percent, from 1.255 percent on Monday, marking its third straight day of declines. Lower bond yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing gold.

A surge in COVID-19 cases in Asia and elsewhere also raised concerns that there could be another economic slowdown.

As new lockdowns weigh on global growth, it is expected that central bank policy tightening would not happen soon.

Gold is also drawing support from concerns over China’s regulations for its once-freewheeling internet sector and the turmoil in Afghanistan.

Focus now shifts to the U.S. retail sales data due later in the day, with the July sales figure likely to show a slowdown in consumer spending.

Rupee drops 11 paise to close at 74.35 against dollar

The Rupee on Tuesday declined by 11 paise to close at 74.35 (provisional) against the US currency due to a stronger Dollar in the overseas markets.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened flat at 74.23 against the American currency but later slipped to close at 74.35.

During the session, the local unit touched an intra-day high of 74.21 and a low of 74.36 against the US currency. On Friday, the Rupee had settled at 74.24 against the US Dollar.

The forex market was closed on Monday on account of ‘Parsi New Year’.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.06% higher at 92.68.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.37% to USD 69.25 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 209.69 points or 0.38% higher at 55,792.27, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 51.55 points or 0.31% to 16,614.60.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they offloaded shares worth ₹1,088.32 crore, according to the exchange data.

How to Help Haiti Earthquake Victims Right Now

Haiti is in crisis. On Saturday, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Caribbean country, killing at least 1,297 people. Thousands of homes, as well as landmarks, churches, markets, and hospitals, have collapsed or been damaged, leaving people without supplies or shelter as a tropical storm rolls in early this week. Haitians are also still dealing with the global coronavirus pandemic and the current political instability caused by the recent assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. According to NPR, a rise in gang violence, as well as damaged roads and bridges, has made getting humanitarian aid to those who in need a “logistical challenge.” On top of everything, the nation hasn’t fully recovered from the destruction of an earthquake that hit in 2010, which killed more than 200,000 and displaced more than one million people, or from Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

Sensex jumps 210 points to end at new peak; Nifty tops 16,600

Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, followed by TCS, Nestle India, Titan, Infosys and HUL.

Equity benchmark Sensex surged 210 points to end at a fresh peak on August 17, tracking gains in index majors Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS), Hindustan Univlever Ltd. (HUL), and Tech Mahindra.

After scaling a fresh lifetime high of 55,854.88 during the day, the 30-share index settled 209.69 points or 0.38% higher at 55,792.27, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 51.55 points or 0.31% to 16,614.60.

Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3%, followed by TCS, Nestle India, Titan, Infosys and HUL.

On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel and L&T were among the laggards.

“Domestic equities remained volatile amid weak global cues. Midcap and smallcap stocks remain under pressure today, while volatility index softened marginally,” said Binod Modi, Head strategy at Reliance Securities.

“Visibility of sustained earnings recovery in IT stocks in the backdrop of strong deal wins and encouraging guidance shared by managements in 1QFY22 made investors to lap-up IT stocks,” he stated.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul ended with significant losses.

Equities in Europe were also largely trading on a negative note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.24% to $69.34 per barrel.