What Happened?
Shares of lift truck and material handling solutions manufacturer Hyster-Yale Materials Handling (NYSE:HY) jumped 9.9% in the morning session after the company reported strong fourth-quarter results that significantly surpassed analysts' revenue and EBITDA expectations, driven by strong performance in the Lift Truck segment.
Looking ahead, the company expects a softer 2025, adding that "revenues, production levels, and profits are expected to decline significantly compared to robust 2024 results. This aligns with the company's view on the business cycle, which is expected to trough in the first half of 2025, after peaking in the two prior years." Overall, this was a strong quarter, with notable strength in the Americas segment and disciplined pricing strategies helping to offset cost pressures.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $53.44, up 3.1% from previous close.
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What The Market Is Telling Us
Hyster-Yale Materials Handling’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 12 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 4 months ago when the stock dropped 20.6% on the news that the company reported weak third quarter earnings. Its revenue missed and its EBITDA fell short of Wall Street's estimates. The quarter revealed weakness in some geographies, such as the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region, as sales decreased by 21%, primarily due to supply chain challenges and lower production rates. The company also called out weaknesses in the lift truck market. Overall, this quarter could have been better.
Hyster-Yale Materials Handling is up 6.4% since the beginning of the year, but at $53.44 per share, it is still trading 34.6% below its 52-week high of $81.74 from July 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,049.
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