Astec Industries (NASDAQ: ASTE) reported Q3 EPS of $0.30, $0.29 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.59. Revenue for the quarter came in at $256.6 million versus the consensus estimate of $276.8 million.

The Company’s backlog at September 30, 2018 was $308.6 million, a decrease of $77.9 million or 20.2% compared to the September 30, 2017 backlog of $386.5 million. Domestic backlog decreased 28.1% to $223.2 million at September 30, 2018 from $310.4 million at September 30, 2017. The international backlog at September 30, 2018 was $85.4 million compared to $76.0 million at September 30, 2017, an increase of 12.4%. Excluding wood pellet plant backlogs, the Company’s September 30, 2018 backlog decreased $2.3 million or 0.7% compared to September 30, 2017. Prior year backlogs have been recast to include the backlog of RexCon, Inc., acquired during the fourth quarter of 2017

GUIDANCE:

Continuing on the outlook for 2019, Mr. Brock commented, “As previously announced, we have engaged Maine Pointe to help us analyze opportunities to improve our Company. Specifically, we analyzed opportunities to improve strategic sourcing and inventory management. At the completion of Phase One of the engagement, it was obvious we had opportunities for improvement. We started Phase Two with Maine Pointe during the quarter. We anticipate the savings through strategic sourcing improvement will add approximately 2% to our gross margin in 2019 and generate a one-time cash release of approximately $25 million as a result of better inventory management. In addition to the Maine Pointe effort, we are analyzing all areas of our business for opportunities of operational improvement.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Astec Industries (ASTE) click here.