ESCO Technologies (NYSE: ESE) reported Q4 EPS of $0.90, $0.14 better than the analyst estimate of $0.76. Revenue for the quarter came in at $208.03 million versus the consensus estimate of $188.71 million.

• Q4 2020 GAAP EPS was ($0.81) per share (GAAP net loss of $21 million) and included the quarterly impact of the 2020 Discrete Items. Excluding the net earnings impact of the 2020 Discrete Items, Q4 2020 Adjusted EPS was $0.90 per share.
• Q4 2019 GAAP EPS was $0.95 per share (GAAP net earnings of $25 million) and included $0.07 per share from discontinued operations and other non-operating items described in prior releases. Excluding discontinued operations and other non-operating items, Q4 2019 Adjusted EPS was $1.02 per share.
• Q4 2020 Adjusted EBITDA was $42 million, compared to Q4 2019 Adjusted EBITDA of $48 million.

COVID-19 Update

Vic Richey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “As we continue to manage through the COVID-19 global pandemic, we remain focused on the health and safety of our employees, customers and suppliers, thereby securing the financial well-being of the Company.

“Our 2020 results reflect the importance of maintaining diversity across our end-markets, as this diversity, coupled with our strong balance sheet and substantial liquidity will support our long-term growth. Because of our multi-segment platform, we were able to partially mitigate COVID-19’s impact on sales and earnings as we reported 2020 sales of $733 million with an Adjusted EBITDA of $137 million and Adjusted EPS of $2.76 per share. Additionally, we generated record cash flow in 2020 and paid down our net debt to $10 million resulting in a 0.47 leverage ratio at September 30th. Driven by effective cost management, solid operating execution, and acquisition contributions, we delivered solid performance in a challenging year.

“I’m confident that our well-tested operating model and our track record of taking action to reduce spending and resize the business will position us for solid earnings growth as our end-markets return to normal.

“Our deep and experienced leadership team has us well-positioned for the future and we continue to invest in growth initiatives both organically and through acquisition. The fundamentals of our portfolio remain strong and our goal remains the same – to create long-term shareholder value.”

Chairman’s Commentary

Vic Richey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “While 2020 was a clearly a challenging year, there are several highlights to touch on in this unprecedented period.

“The key highlight of 2020 was the strength of our cash generation, which was driven by the sale of our packaging business and our increased focus on working capital management to improve and increase our liquidity. We believe we will benefit from this strong liquidity position during 2021 as we continue our pursuit of acquisitions and expand our internal investments in new product development across the company.

“The performance of the Test segment in 2020 was also noteworthy as we increased our EBIT margin to 14.6 percent, up from 13.6 percent in 2019 despite flat sales. Our A&D segment demonstrated its resilience by delivering an EBIT margin of 21.1 percent despite a decrease in high-margin commercial aerospace sales. A&D’s solid margin was driven by its program, product and end-market diversity, as the navy and defense markets remained strong which offset the decline in commercial aerospace. PTI, Crissair and Mayday’s sales decline reflected the reduction in both OEM build rates and air traffic, while Globe, Vacco and Westland outperformed on their navy / submarine platforms.

“While we expect the softness in commercial aerospace deliveries to continue for the next few quarters, the commercial aerospace industry continues to see signs of a recovery emerging as several airlines are bringing more of their idled fleets back into service and daily aircraft passenger boarding has been increasing.

“The defense portion of A&D, both military aerospace and navy products, is expected to remain strong for the foreseeable future given its sizeable backlog coupled with the timing of expected platform deliveries.

“We expect Test to remain relatively solid given the strength of its served markets, primarily related to new communications technologies such as 5G and our growing shielding business. Our view of 5G’s future is favorable given the size of the investments being made by numerous large, global companies leading the development of this technology.

“USG sales remained soft over the second half of 2020 as utility customers continued deferring test equipment purchases and maintenance-related projects to focus their resources on issues such as critical power delivery. Given their ongoing travel and site access restrictions, Doble’s service business was largely on hold in the second half of the year while utilities tried to reduce personal safety risks.

“On the positive side, USG’s order pipeline was solid in 2020 with over $200 million in new orders received. A significant number of the orders at Doble related to cyber security solutions such as the DUCe, and I’m pleased to see the enthusiasm being generated in the market surrounding several new products and solutions recently introduced. We continue to see NRG’s end markets recovering as investments in renewable energy have been increasing in both wind and solar. Our new products supporting solar have been growing far better than anticipated and we expect that growth to continue.

“We expect Doble’s customer spending softness to continue for the next few quarters before returning to normal levels. We take comfort knowing that COVID-19 does not change the fundamentals of the global utility market as society needs reliable, safe and secure electricity. While customers can defer testing and maintenance for a period of time, they cannot do it indefinitely without significantly increasing the risk of catastrophic failure.

“Doble is using this temporary pause in the market to accelerate development of several new products and software solutions that we expect to introduce over the next several quarters.

“Wrapping up 2020, I’m pleased that we were able to generate substantial cash from operations and maintain our Adjusted EBITDA margin at 19 percent despite the lower contribution from our highest margin businesses.

“Given our solid financial condition, we plan to use a portion of our liquidity and debt capacity to fund future acquisitions and grow our business. We continue to evaluate a robust pipeline of M&A opportunities, but we are taking a particularly prudent and deliberate approach evaluating our near-term targets. As end-markets continue to settle down and more clarity appears in our targeted areas, we are comfortable adding to our current portfolio and capitalizing on today’s slightly lower valuations.

“Despite the recent economic challenges, we plan to continue our history of proven cost management and believe that we will benefit from our disciplined operating culture to minimize our risks going forward. We have positioned ourselves favorably from a cost structure standpoint entering 2021, and we anticipate a gradual return to a more normal operating environment. I continue to have a strong, favorable view of our future.”

Business Outlook – 2021 (COVID Uncertainty)

In mid-year 2020, business disruptions related to the pandemic started to affect the Company’s operations and continued throughout the balance of the year. Entering 2021, the commercial aerospace and utility end-markets are seeing some degree of customer stabilization, as well as notable pockets of recovery. However, there is still some uncertainty as to the timing and pace of the recovery in these areas.

The prospect of a viable COVID-19 vaccine will certainly benefit and accelerate the anticipated recovery of commercial air travel and utility spending with customers resuming normal testing protocols and equipment purchases, but Management determined it is best to take a “wait and see” approach for at least the next 90 days before resuming specific and finite guidance.

Given this uncertainty, it is difficult to predict how 2021 will be affected using our normal forecasting methodologies, therefore, the Company will continue the suspension of forward-looking guidance.

To assist shareholders and analysts, Management will offer “directional” guidance for 2021, by stating we are seeing tangible signs of recovery in the second half of fiscal 2021 that point to a solid outlook for the back half of the year.

Given the strength of the first half of 2020 pre-COVID, it is projected that the first half of 2021 will be a slightly lower comparison to 2020’s first half. The outlook for the second half of 2021 is expected to be a favorable comparison to the second half of 2020 given the tangible elements of recovery we are anticipating.

Management’s current expectations for the 2021 outlook show growth in Sales, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EPS compared to 2020, with Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS reasonably consistent with 2019.

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