Why Graco Stock Is Falling Today

Second-quarter results from pump and flow control manufacturer (NYSE: GGG) fell short of expectations, and the company is going to have a hard time in the coming quarters matching last year's strong second half. Investors appeared disappointed, sending shares of Graco down by as much as 10% on Thursday. As of 2:11 p.m. ET, the stock was still down by 8.5%.

Graco reported adjusted earnings of $0.75 per share in the second quarter on sales of $559.6 million, falling short of analysts' consensus expectations for $0.80 per share in earnings on sales of $576 million. Net sales were up 2% year over year, and gross profit margin increased by 3 percentage points, but the gains were not as strong as Wall Street had expected.

The company reported a mixed demand environment for its products, with record quarterly sales from both its process and industrial segments. But sales to Asia were soft, CEO Mark Sheahan called contractor performance "mixed," and the company saw declines in its home center and pro paint channels.

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Source Fool.com