Kimball Int'l (KBAL) Tops Q4 EPS by 5c

Kimball Int'l (NASDAQ: KBAL) reported Q4 EPS of $0.06, $0.05 better than the analyst estimate of $0.01. Revenue for the quarter came in at $146.2 million versus the consensus estimate of $139.3 million.

Summary and Outlook

“The rate of business activity improved considerably in the fourth quarter, enabling us to end a challenging fiscal 2021 with a clear path forward to future growth. Recent order trends, business development activity levels and proprietary research indicate that our Workplace and Health markets have entered the recovery phase, and this positive outlook is supported by data included in the Architecture Billing Index and various business surveys. With a portfolio comprised primarily of ancillary products that foster collaboration, learning and teamwork, and over 80% of our revenues derived from secondary markets, which are growing and recovering at a faster pace than many other areas of the country, Kimball International is in a strong position to benefit from the improved business conditions, and we are anticipating considerable growth across key business metrics in fiscal 2022.

“Looking ahead, we expect revenues to increase progressively throughout fiscal 2022, reaching 15% to 20% growth for the full year compared to fiscal 2021 levels, with the highest year-on-year comparisons taking place in the second half of the year. Similarly, we believe gross margin expansion will be more pronounced in the second half, increasing sequentially throughout the year, benefiting from higher volumes and ongoing efficiency projects. At the same time, we expect to continue to invest to support future growth, opening three new Poppin showrooms in fiscal 2022, increasing our marketing and promotional spend, and building our sales force, which will result in higher S&A spend than in fiscal 2021.

“Specifically, for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 we expect mid-single digit revenue growth compared to the prior year’s first quarter, driven by high-single digit growth in our Workplace and Health end markets, which should more than offset continued softness in Hospitality. Included in this expectation is the impact of modest production constraints driven by supply chain disruptions that have extended lead times. Gross margin is expected to be in the range of 31% to 33%. S&A costs are expected to increase slightly over the fiscal 2021 fourth quarter level.

“Kimball International has entered fiscal 2022 with an expanded and innovative product portfolio that is particularly well-suited to today’s post-pandemic environment, and we are confident in our ability to gain share in our target markets as well as further build our e-commerce capabilities,” Ms. Juster concluded.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Kimball Int'l (KBAL) click here.

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