What happened
Shares of Beacon Roofing Supply (BECN 0.18%) fell as much as 24% in trading Wednesday after the company reported fiscal third-quarter results. At 12:35 p.m. EDT, the stock was still down 21.8% on the day.
So what
Revenue fell slightly to $1.92 billion but net income dropped 42% to $25.0 million, or $0.32 per share. Adjusted net income, which pulls out one-time items, was $72.6 million, or $0.92 per share, down from $93.4 million a year ago.
Analysts were expecting revenue of $1.99 billion and earnings of $1.25 per share, so results missed the mark by a wide margin.
Now what
Management blamed poor weather for the disappointing quarter, and while there's some validity to that claim, it's never a good sign when companies talk about the weather. The concern is that residential and commercial construction is slowing down, which would be bad not only for Beacon but also for the economy overall. I don't see this as a buying opportunity today and would watch closely how the company performs in the second half of the year because weather isn't an excuse that can be used for long.