Cleantech energy integration specialist Ameresco (AMRC 2.38%) provided its investors with a pleasant jolt of energy after market close on Wednesday. It published a set of quarterly figures in which the headline numbers beat analyst estimates for both revenue and profitability. The market rewarded the company with a nearly 3% bump in its share price Thursday, a figure that was higher than the S&P 500 index's 0.5% rise.
Growth and estimate beats in the fourth quarter
Not only did Ameresco's fourth-quarter results exceed prognosticator expectations, they also indicated robust growth for the company.
Revenue totaled just over $441 million, well higher than the almost $332 million Ameresco earned in the same quarter of 2022. More impressively, non-GAAP (adjusted) net income nearly doubled, reaching $36.8 million ($0.69 per share) from the year-ago profit of $18.9 million.
On average, analysts following Ameresco were estimating the company would book less than $414 million on the top line, and $0.64 for adjusted, per-share net income.
2023 was a challenging year for the company, but the fourth quarter's significant growth represented a turnaround. This was due in no small part to a realization of projects that had been stuck in development.
Ameresco quoted CEO George Sakellaris as saying that "Despite the industry headwinds, specifically supply chain issues and administrative bottlenecks that caused the push-out of project revenues we noted last quarter, we are pleased to report that we converted and executed on a number of these previously delayed projects."
2024 guidance was mixed
As a result, Ameresco is expecting that good momentum to support its fundamentals throughout 2024. It proffered full-year guidance of $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion in revenue, with adjusted earnings coming in at $1.30 to $1.50 per share. The analyst consensus of just under $1.62 billion on the top line falls within the company's range, although those pundits are expecting a higher per-share adjusted profit figure of $1.82.
