Acuity Brands reports £583.59 million of revenue in the fiscal first quarter

Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI) published its earnings report for the fiscal first quarter on Thursday that came in better than what experts had forecast, despite the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic that has been a nightmare for businesses in recent months.

Acuity Brands closed the regular session at £89.35 per share on Thursday. The stock has recovered sharply from a low of £52.38 per share in March. If you want to invest in the stock market online, you will need a reliable stockbroker – here’s a comparison of the top few to make selection easier for you.

The COVID-19 crisis has so far infected more than 21 million people in the United States and caused over 370 thousand deaths. In separate news from the United States, Micron Technology Inc. said on Thursday that its DRAM sales made up 70% of total revenue in the fiscal first quarter.

Acuity Brands’ Q1 financial results versus analysts’ estimates

Acuity Brands said that its earnings in the first quarter printed at £43.92 million that translates to a net per-share income of £1.16. On an adjusted basis, the lighting and building management company earned £1.50 per share in the recent quarter.

In comparison, analysts had anticipated a lower £1.34 of adjusted earnings per share in Q1. In terms of revenue, the Atlanta-based company posted £583.59 million in the fiscal first quarter. Experts had forecast a lower £581.67 million of revenue for Acuity Brands in the recent quarter.

Acuity’s earnings report comes only a day after the lighting and building management firm declared 9.58 pence of quarterly dividend payable on 1^st February.

Acuity Brands’ forecast for the fiscal second quarter

The U.S. firm has topped consensus estimates for revenue in the past four quarters. For earnings per share, it has topped consensus estimates in three out of the past four quarters. The consensus forecast for Acuity’s EPS in Q2 currently stands at £1.18 on revenue of £568.30 million.

For the full financial year, consensus estimates are £5.75 for per-share earnings and £2.44 billion for revenue. The current estimates, however, are subject to the impact of the ongoing pandemic on Acuity’s business in the upcoming months.

Acuity Brands performed fairly downbeat in the stock market last year with an annual decline of roughly 13%. At the time of writing, it is valued at £3.29 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 19.34.