Telecom Woes Hit EnerSys Hard, Analyst Downgrades Stock

Oppenheimer analyst Noah Kaye downgraded EnerSys ENS to Perform from Outperform and removed the prior price target of $113.

The analyst re-rated the stock following the third-quarter FY24 revenue miss and below consensus fourth-quarter FY24 guidance. 

Yesterday, the company reported an adjusted EPS of $2.56, beating the street view of $2.38 and sales of $861.50 million, missing the consensus of $898.87 million.

EnerSys guided for Q4 adj. EPS of $1.98-$2.08 vs. estimate of $2.22.

The analyst writes that the slowdown in telecom/broadband impacted multiple segments in the quarter. 

Kaye says that the recovery prospects seem weighted towards calendar second half 2024, with retooling plants for production flexibility projected to occur during the calendar year 2025. 

The analyst says that the company’s efforts to lower costs and boost production flexibility are positive steps, but stronger initiatives are needed to improve margins structurally and more effectively capitalize on the growth drivers. 

The analyst lowered revenue and EPS estimates to $3.56 billion (from $3.62 billion) and $8.31 (from $8.46) for FY24 and to $3.56 billion (from $3.60 billion) and $9.00 (from $9.03), respectively, for FY25. 

Price Action: ENS shares are trading lower by 1.07% at $89.89 on the last check Friday.