AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAON) reported Q4 EPS of $0.21, $0.04 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.25. Revenue for the quarter came in at $91.7 million versus the consensus estimate of $100.08 million.

Norman H. Asbjornson, CEO, stated, “We believe the sales rate slowed in the fourth quarter as our customers paused to await and absorb the November election results and the impact they could have on the business environment. In addition, we witnessed a decided shift in our product mix toward lower priced units. This may have been a by-product of the concern surrounding the political atmosphere. Nevertheless, while our unit volume increased 12.5% in 2016, our sales growth advanced only 7.1%."

Mr. Asbjornson continued, "We've been successful in controlling our total costs and maintaining our gross profit margin. Our gross margin last year climbed to 30.8% compared to 30.3% the year earlier. He continued, "Our balance sheet remained quite strong. At year end 2016 the current ratio was 3.6:1 (including cash and cash equivalents of $43.7 million). We continued to operate debt-free and our return on average stockholder equity was 27.7% in 2016 compared with 25.1% a year earlier."

Mr. Asbjornson concluded, "Our Water-Source Heat Pump production is ramping up, albeit at a somewhat slower rate than expected to assure delivery of quality product to customers. We are confident that the WSHP line will continue to show steady improvement throughout next year. Our backlog in 2016 decreased from $57.1 million to $49.1 million. Our business is somewhat seasonal, usually slowing in the fourth quarter. We are closely monitoring our raw material costs which play a major role in our ability to maintain gross margins. While 2017 will present certain challenges, we are encouraged by the tone of business witnessed since the beginning of the year. The incoming order rate and backlog have strengthened and are running at record first quarter levels. Despite some headwinds, we believe that we can achieve record sales and earnings in 2017."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on AAON, Inc. (AAON) click here.