Baldor announced exceptionally good results for YTD 2010 and Q2 2010.
SALES INCREASE OF 14%, EARNINGS INCREASE OF 192% AND RECORD OPERATING MARGIN
John McFarland, Chairman and CEO, commented on the Company‟s results. “Sales for second quarter 2010 were $439.5 million, a 14% increase from second quarter 2009 sales of $384.7 million. Compared to second quarter 2009, net income increased 192% to $22.8 million from $7.8 million and diluted earnings per share increased to $0.48 from $0.17.”
“We are pleased to report a record operating margin of 14.6% this quarter compared to 11.5% one year ago. This exceeds our previous peak quarterly margin of 14.2%. This improvement in operating profit is the result of efforts by all of our employees to reduce costs and implement productivity improvements.”
McFarland added, "Compared to the same quarter last year, incoming orders increased by a double-digit amount each month of the quarter, with May having the strongest increase. July‟s incoming orders have continued to grow at a double-digit rate. We currently have a backlog of approximately $200 million, up from $135 million at year end. As a result, we expect sales growth in third quarter 2010 of 16-18% compared to third quarter 2009.”
It is incredibly tempting to take this as a sign of general recovery in the manufacturing sectors. Is it too tempting?