What happened
Shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (RBA 0.18%), a global auction company offering solutions for buying and selling used heavy equipment, trucks, and other massive industrial assets, are rising 9% Tuesday as of 2 p.m. EDT after the company announced better-than-expected second-quarter results.
So what
In RBA's top line, revenue increased 5% to $166.2 million, topping analysts' consensus estimates calling for $163.4 million. RBA noted that the year-over-year increase was primarily due to the acquisition of IronPlanet Holdings, an online marketplace for used heavy equipment. However, RBA reached record second-quarter revenue rate of 13.22% during the three-month stretch. Revenue rate is calculated as revenues divided by gross auction proceeds, so RBA is generating more revenue from each piece of equipment sold at its auctions, a very positive development.
Image source: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers.
RBA's bottom line was a little choppy. RBA's earnings per share checked in at $0.16, but when adjusted for non-recurring charges largely associated with the IronPlanet acquisition, among a couple of other items, adjusted earnings per share were $0.33. That result was good enough to top analysts' estimates of $0.31 per share.
Now what
Investors had reason to walk away from the second quarter feeling optimistic. Management appears on track to successfully integrate IronPlanet and begin generating cost synergies that could exceed $10 million by the end of this year and $20 million by the end of 2018. Another positive development for investors is that RBA's sales team has begun cross-selling multichannel solutions to its customers, which could help generate incremental revenue from the current customer base. Ultimately, no competitors possess the size, scale, or global reach of RBA within the heavy industrial auction industry, and as the company begins to realize cost savings from integrating IronPlanet, it paves the way for a solid near-term future.
