Why Newell Brands Shares Are Gaining Friday

Newell Brands Inc. NWL shares are trading higher on Friday.

The company’s first-quarter adjusted earnings per share were at the break-even point, compared with the analyst consensus estimate of a 7-cent loss. Quarterly revenues of $1.653 billion beat the street view of $1.644 billion.

Net sales slumped 8.4% compared with the prior year period, while the core sales declined by 4.7%.

Normalized gross margin increased to 31.2% compared with 27.1% in the prior year period. Normalized operating margin increased to 4.6% compared with 2.4% in the prior year.

Operating cash flow increased by $109 million to $32 million compared with the prior year period.

At the end of the first quarter, Newell Brands had debt outstanding of $5.0 billion and cash and cash equivalents of $372 million.

In January 2024, the company announced an organizational realignment, which is expected to strengthen the company’s front-end commercial capabilities.

Once the organizational design changes are fully executed, the company expects to realize annualized pretax savings in the range of $65 million to $90 million, net of reinvestment, with $55 million to $70 million expected in 2024.

During the first quarter of 2024, the company incurred restructuring and related charges of $22 million related to the plan.

Outlook: Newell Brands forecasts a second-quarter sales decline of 9%-7%, with core sales to fall between 6% and 4%. The company projects second-quarter normalized EPS of $0.18 to $0.21 versus analyst consensus of $0.25. The company affirmed its FY24 sales outlook for a decline of 8% to 5%, with normalized EPS of $0.52 to $0.62 versus the $0.57 estimate.

Price Action: NWL shares are trading higher by 10.7% to $7.68 at last check Friday.

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