Lawson Products (LAWS) Tops Q3 EPS by 14c

Lawson Products (NASDAQ: LAWS) reported Q3 EPS of $0.20, $0.14 better than the analyst estimate of $0.06. Revenue for the quarter came in at $70.2 million versus the consensus estimate of $70.03 million.

“Our sales and profitability improved sequentially over the second quarter, but continued to be negatively affected by the ongoing slower industrial activity impacting the MRO marketplace and the decreased demand from the oil and gas industry," said Michael DeCata, president and chief executive officer. “Despite the ongoing economic challenges, we improved performance in the third quarter while continuing to invest in the Company.

“Through the end of the third quarter, our sales force remains strong at 1,006 sales representatives, and we added 69 net new sales reps and successfully integrated two acquisitions. As expected, costs from increasing the number of sales reps over the past year has a short-term negative impact on our operating income as they build out their sales territories. Following the acceleration in the size of our sales force in the first two quarters of 2016, we purposely moderated the rate of hiring in the third quarter. As planned, the pace of sales rep growth will be slower in the near future as we increase our efforts on providing training and support for our expanded sales force to enhance their productivity.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Lawson Products (LAWS) click here.

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