Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI) reported Q3 EPS of $0.61, $0.36 better than the analyst estimate of $0.25. Revenue for the quarter came in at $540 million versus the consensus estimate of $539.39 million.

Key results for the quarter include (compared with the third quarter of 2019):

• Revenue of $540 million, compared with $624 million;
• Gross margin of 26.5%; compared with 31.5%;
• GAAP net loss of $(25) million, compared with net income of $17 million;
• GAAP loss per share of $(0.63), compared with GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.42;
• Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.61, compared with $1.04;
• Adjusted EBITDA of $40 million, compared with $74 million;
• Free cash flow of $38 million, compared with $32 million; and
• Total backlog of $2.8 billion, compared with $3.1 billion.

"During the third quarter, our team continued to focus on the success of our customers and safely delivered results aligned to our expectations," said Tom Deitrich, Itron's president and chief executive officer.

"While still being negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, our results have improved sequentially from the second quarter low point," continued Deitrich. "While we navigate the near-term challenges, we continue to innovate and position Itron to capture the growing technology and service need of utilities and cities with our solutions."

Operational Update and Outlook

Results, while improving sequentially from the second quarter, still reflect the current pandemic operating environment. Our supply chain and logistics situation remain stable. We continue to have all factories up and running with aggressive measures to execute safely across our entire operation. Itron remains vigilant and prepared for regional and local spikes from the pandemic that may potentially disrupt our operations. We see some customers resuming deployments and a strong pipeline of new tenders. To date there have been no contract cancellations or slowing with collections from our customers. However, some new deployments that were expected to start in 2020 have shifted to out years due to pandemic conditions and/or delays in the regulatory approval process. On balance, we were pleased with our team’s focus and execution this quarter and we remain on track to achieve our second half 2020 expectations.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Itron (ITRI) click here.