• Revenue: $666 million for Q4, up 21% year-over-year.
• Earnings Per Share (EPS): $1.92 for Q4, including a $0.17 benefit from favorable tax rates.
• Adjusted EBITDA Margin: 17.1% for Q4, up 110 basis points year-over-year.
• Orders: Up 23% year-over-year for Q4; full-year orders nearly $2.5 billion, up 9%.
• Organic Revenue Growth: 14% for Q4; 23% organic growth in the Americas.
• Free Cash Flow: $223 million for the full year, representing 9.1% of revenue.
• Share Repurchases: 0.5 million shares repurchased in Q4 for $55 million; 1.3 million shares for $133 million for the full year.
• Net Income: $79 million for Q4, up from $61 million in the prior year quarter.
• Gross Profit Margin: 38.1% for Q4, down 10 basis points year-over-year but up 30 basis points sequentially.
• Cash and Cash Equivalents: $370 million at the end of Q4.
• Financial Leverage: 1.8 times net debt to EBITDA at year-end.
• First Quarter Revenue Guidance: $605 million to $620 million, representing a 13% to 16% increase over the prior year quarter.
• First Quarter EPS Guidance: $1.43 to $1.53, representing a 15% to 23% increase over the prior year quarter.

• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 8 Warning Signs with ICE.

Release Date: February 06, 2025

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Positive Points

• Belden Inc (NYSE:BDC) reported a strong fourth quarter with revenue and earnings per share exceeding the high end of their guidance.
• The company achieved a 21% year-over-year increase in revenue for the fourth quarter, with organic growth of 14%.
• Belden Inc (NYSE:BDC) demonstrated strong free cash flow generation, ending the year with $223 million, slightly ahead of expectations.
• The company successfully executed tuck-in acquisitions, deploying $295 million to enhance their product portfolio and solutions offerings.
• Belden Inc (NYSE:BDC) continued to repurchase shares, buying back approximately 1.3 million shares for $133 million over the year, enhancing shareholder value.

Negative Points

• Despite strong quarterly performance, full-year revenue was down 2% compared to the prior year, with organic revenue down 6%.
• The company faces currency exchange headwinds, with an expected impact of $15 million in revenue and $0.05 in EPS for the first quarter of 2025.
• There is short-term uncertainty in customer demand due to policy evaluations, impacting the company's outlook for the first quarter.
• Belden Inc (NYSE:BDC) noted continued softness in the EMEA region, affecting their discrete market performance.
• The company acknowledged incremental headwinds, such as a stronger US dollar, which could challenge their $8 EPS target for 2025.

Q & A Highlights

Q: Can you elaborate on the factors affecting your Q1 guidance, particularly regarding manufacturing PMIs and inventory levels? A: Ashish Chand, President and CEO: For Q1, we are considering regular seasonality, typically 6% to 8% from Q4 to Q1. While there are positive trends like improving orders and solutions, short-term friction exists. We expect things to align with our 2025 outlook post-Q1.

Q: Do you need any pickup in activity to meet the Q1 guidance? A: Jeremy Parks, CFO: No, we do not require any pickup in activity to meet our Q1 guidance.

Q: Regarding the $8 EPS target, if business conditions improve in Q2, are you on track to meet it, or is FX a significant headwind? A: Jeremy Parks, CFO: We need conditions to improve throughout the year to meet the $8 target. FX is a headwind, but we are evaluating smart capital allocation decisions to mitigate this.

Q: Are customers in a neutral posture across all markets, or are some markets less affected by policy uncertainty? A: Ashish Chand, President and CEO: Energy and process markets are more consistent despite short-term uncertainty. Discrete markets have shown improvement, especially in the US, despite EMEA's weakness.

Q: Has there been any pull-in of orders due to potential tariff changes? A: Ashish Chand, President and CEO: We have not seen significant pull-ins. Our Q4 was clean, and our manufacturing is mostly within regions, minimizing tariff impacts.

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.