Shares of Badger Meter Inc. (BMI) slipped eight percent in extended trade on Tuesday after reporting a first-quarter profit that halved from last year, on lower gross margins even as revenues declined due to weather linked factors.
Badger Meter makes meters for water and gas utilities, municipalities and industrial customers. The company said sales to water utilities were low as more-than-average snow significantly impacted meter replacement activities in the quarter.
Chief Executive Richard Meeusen said, "The utility business is seasonal, with fewer meter installations typically completed during the winter months. Our experience has been that more snow cover correlates to lower sales."
Meanwhile, revenues were also impacted due to 30 percent lower sales to utilities in the Northeast affected by Hurricane Sandy as well as factors related to municipal budgets. Meeusen, however, described these factors as temporary events that have delayed some meter orders into future quarters.
Badger Meter's total revenues for the quarter dropped 5.8 percent to $71.81 million from $76.23 million last year., Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had a consensus revenue estimate of $79.79 million for the quarter.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Badger Meter's first-quarter profit plunged to $2.91 million or $0.20 per share from $6.25 million or $0.42 per share last year. Analysts expected earnings of $0.50 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Gross margin dropped to 34.9 percent from 37.9 percent last year, due to lower capacity utilization caused by decreased sales.
The company also said it acquired Los Gatos, California-based software company Aquacue Inc. on April 1 for $14 million in cash. Aquacue's software provides water management data to utilities and consumers to help them better manage water usage.
"Although this is an early-stage company without significant sales, we believe Aquacue's intellectual property can move us further down the road in adding new technology enhancements to our Advanced Metering Analytics automatic meter reading system," said Meeusen.
Looking forward, Meeusen said, "While 2013 is off to a slow start, we believe we will see a return to more normal patterns in coming quarters."
BMI closed Tuesday at $52.32, up $2.26 or 4.51%, on the NYSE. The stock, however, lost $4.22 or 8.07% in after hours.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.