Itron Inc. ITRI reported non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of $1.52 for first-quarter 2025, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 16.9%. The company reported earnings of $1.24 per share in the prior-year quarter. Amid the ongoing tariff tensions and global trade volatility, ITRI’s regional supply strategy supports the bottom line, with most U.S. products made locally and key parts imported tariff-free from Mexico. (See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.)

Revenues inched up 1% year over year to $607 million, backed by the catch-up of delayed sales in the first quarter of 2024. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $614.3 million. The figure also missed management’s guidance ($610-$620 million) owing to weakness across the Device Solutions and Networked Solutions segments amid strength in the Outcomes unit.

However, management highlighted steady customer demand in the first quarter, driven by grid modernization and automation, with Itron’s grid edge solutions supporting strong performance.

Itron, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Itron, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Itron, Inc. Quote

Product revenues were $523.1 million (86.2% of total revenues), down 0.9% year over year. Service revenues totaled $84 million (13.8%), up 11.1%.

Itron’s bookings were $530 million and its backlog amounted to $4.7 billion at the end of the reported quarter. Notable first-quarter bookings include a key project with FirstEnergy to improve outage detection, data management and give consumers better energy insights.

In response to the mixed performance, ITRI’s shares declined 2.9% and closed the trading session at $108.05 on May 1. The stock has gained 1% in the past year against the Zacks Electronics-Testing Equipment industry’s decline of 4.9%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Segments in Detail

Device Solutions: Revenues generated from this segment were $125.9 million (20.7% of total revenues), which dropped 1% (up 2% in constant currency) due to increased smart water sales, which were partially offset by declining sales in legacy electricity products.

Networked Solutions: Revenues of $402.7 (66.3%) million decreased 1%, largely attributed to the timing of shipments and project deployments. In addition, the prior year’s revenues included catch-up sales previously constrained, creating a tough year-over-year comparison.

Outcomes: Revenues of $78.5 million (13%) improved 14% on a year-over-year basis, driven by higher recurring revenues and increased software license sales.

Operating Details

Itron’s gross margin was 35.8%, which expanded 180 basis points on a year-over-year basis. This improvement was attributed to a more favorable product mix and continued operational efficiencies and cost discipline.

Non-GAAP operating expenses of $137 million fell 0.8% year over year.

Non-GAAP operating income was $80.3 million compared with $67.3 million in the year-ago quarter. The increase was due to improved gross profit and reduced non-GAAP operating costs.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flows

As of March 31, 2025, cash and cash equivalents totaled $1.123 billion compared with $1.05 billion as of Dec 31, 2024. Accounts receivable were $346.6 million.

As of March 31, net long-term debt was $786.1 million compared with $1.24 billion as of Dec 31, 2024.

Itron generated $72 million of cash from operations in the reported quarter compared with $41 million in the prior-year quarter.

In the first quarter, the free cash flow reached $67 million, up from $34 million in the previous year's quarter. The rise in free cash flow was attributed to stronger earnings, better working capital management and increased interest income.

Q2 2025 Guidance

Itron expects revenues to be between $605 million and $615 million, flat at midpoint compared to last year.

Non-GAAP EPS is anticipated to be in the range of $1.30-$1.40, with about 12% growth at the midpoint compared to last year.

ITRI’s Zacks Rank

Currently, Itron carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1(Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

Recent Performance of Other Companies

Badger Meter, Inc. BMI reported EPS of $1.30 for first-quarter 2025, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 20.4%. Also, the bottom line compared favorably with the year-ago quarter’s EPS of 99 cents.

In the past year, shares of BMI have gained 18.8%.

Cadence Design Systems CDNS reported first-quarter 2025 non-GAAP EPS of $1.57, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.4%. The bottom line increased 34.2% year over year, exceeding management’s guided range of $1.46-$1.52.

Shares of Cadence have gained 9.6% in the past year.

Woodward, Inc. WWD reported second-quarter fiscal 2025 adjusted net earnings per share (EPS) of $1.69, which increased 4.3% year over year. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 17.4%.

In the past six months, shares of WWD have gained 13.9%.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Badger Meter, Inc. (BMI) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Itron, Inc. (ITRI) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (CDNS) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Woodward, Inc. (WWD) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research