Argan Inc

NYSE:AGX

Earnings Call Analysis

Argan Inc. Achieves Strong Revenue Growth in Q2 2024

Argan Inc. reported a 61% increase in quarterly revenue to $227 million, driven by substantial growth in all segments. Net income rose to $18 million from $12.8 million the previous year. Highlights include a 65% revenue increase in Power Services and a 52% rise in Industrial Services. The company boasts a $1 billion project backlog, including $570 million in renewable projects. With $485 million in cash and no debt, Argan's financial position is strong. Looking ahead, Argan expects continued momentum with solid project pipelines and an emphasis on both traditional and renewable energy projects.

A Strong Quarter with Unprecedented Growth

In its second fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2024, Argan Inc. reported a remarkable 61% increase in consolidated revenues, reaching $227 million, the strongest quarterly performance since 2017. This growth was primarily driven by its Power Industry Services, which saw a 65% increase in revenues, amounting to $173.8 million. The industrial construction segment also performed well, achieving a 52% rise in revenues, totaling $49.6 million. This broad-based growth reflects the company's expertise and expanded operations across multiple project segments.

Profitability and Financial Health

Net income for the quarter stood at $18.2 million, translating to $1.31 per diluted share, compared to $12.8 million or $0.94 per diluted share in the previous year. EBITDA for the same period was reported at $24.8 million, up from $17.9 million, indicating strong operational efficiency. The company's balance sheet remains robust, boasting $485 million in cash and investments, with net liquidity of $260 million and no debt. This financial stability positions Argan favorably for future growth and shareholder returns.

Growing Backlog and Future Projects

As of July 31, 2024, Argan's project backlog exceeded $1 billion, a 25% increase from the previous quarter. Notably, approximately $570 million of this backlog is tied to renewable energy projects, reflecting a strategic alignment with market demands for clean energy solutions. Key ongoing projects include the Trumbull Energy Center in Ohio—expected to be one of the cleanest gas plants—and several solar projects in Illinois, reinforcing Argan's commitment to both traditional and renewable energy sectors.

Dividends and Share Repurchase Program

In September 2023, Argan increased its quarterly dividend by 20%, from $0.25 to $0.30 per share, raising its annual run-rate to $1.20 per share. Since launching its share buyback program in November 2021, the company has repurchased approximately 2.7 million shares, amounting to about $101.6 million returned to shareholders. This strategy suggests a dedicated commitment to enhancing shareholder value and reflects confidence in the company's sustainable profitability.

Challenges and Outlook

While the outlook remains positive, Argan acknowledges certain challenges such as interconnection agreement delays and turbine manufacturing shortages. Both factors can hinder progress on gas-fired projects, despite the growing demand for energy infrastructure. Nevertheless, management remains optimistic, expecting significant contract awards and revenue generation from natural gas projects over the next 5 to 10 months. The overall demand for energy solutions, particularly in the wake of a projected 18% rise in natural gas-fired generation by 2035, positions Argan to capture substantial market opportunities.

Earnings Call Transcript 2025-Q2

[Operator]

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Argan Inc. earnings release conference call for the Second fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2024. This call is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]. Following management's remarks, the call will be open for questions. There is a slide presentation that accompanies today's remarks, which can be accessed via the webcast.

At this time, it is my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host for today, Jennifer Belodeau of IMS Investor Relations. Please go ahead, ma'am.

[Jennifer Belodeau]

Thank you. Good evening, and welcome to our conference call to discuss Argan's results for the Second fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2024. On the call today, we have David Watson, Chief Executive Officer; and Hank Deily, Chief Financial Officer. I will take a moment to read the safe harbor statement.

Statements made during this conference call and presented in the presentation that are not based on historical facts are forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, projections or statements of future goals and targets regarding the company's revenues and profits. These statements are subject to known and unknown factors and risks. The company's actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements and some of the factors and risks that could cause or contribute to such material differences have been described in this afternoon's press release and in Argan's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements are based on information and understandings that are believed to be accurate as of today, and we do not undertake any duty to update such forward-looking statements.

Earlier this afternoon, the company issued a press release announcing its second quarter fiscal 2025 financial results and filed its corresponding Form 10-Q report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Okay. I'll now turn the call over to David Watson, CEO of Argan. Go ahead, David.

[David Watson, executive]

Thanks, Jennifer, and thank you, everyone, for joining today. I'll start by reviewing some of the highlights of our operations and activities, Hank Deily, our CFO, will go over our financial results for the second fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2024, and then we'll open up the call for a brief Q&A.

But before we jump into the call, as many of you already know, today will be Hank's last time taking us through the financials as he is set to retire in just a few weeks. Hank has had a distinguished 40-year career as a senior finance executive and has been with Argan for the past 17 years. So I think we can all agree that his retirement is well earned. So on behalf of all of us here at Argan, I'd like to thank Hank for his many contributions and his counsel over the years, and we're appreciative that he will continue to help in a reduced role to ensure a successful transition.

Josh Baugher, who has worked directly with Hank and myself for the last few years as VP and Corporate Controller, will take over the CFO role. Josh has nearly 20 years experience in strategic financial positions and he joined Argan a few years ago from Charles River Associates, a NASDAQ traded international consulting firm. He has been a valuable member of our finance team, and we're pleased to have him take this leadership role. So now on to the operational review of our fiscal 2025 Second quarter.

We drove continued momentum in the second quarter, achieving consolidated revenues growth of 61% to $227 million significantly enhanced profitability with net income of $18 million or $1.31 per diluted share and EBITDA of $25 million. Both our quarterly revenues and EBITDA performances were the strongest we've seen since 2017. Notably, we achieved revenue growth in all of our business segments this quarter highlighted by a 65% increase in revenues from Power Services and a 52% increase in revenues from industrial services. Project backlog at the close of the second quarter was over $1 billion and included approximately $570 million in renewable projects. Additionally, our balance sheet reflected $485 million of cash and investments net liquidity of $260 million and no debt at July 31, 2024.

Now on to the operational review. Slides 4 and 5 present our three reportable business segments. Our industry services is comprised of our Gemma Systems and Atlantic projects Company operating units, which focus on the construction of multiple types of power facilities, including efficient gas-fired power plants, solar energy fields, biomass facilities and wind farms. Power Industry Services revenues increased 65% to $173.8 million for the current quarter as compared to $105.3 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2024. The segment represented 77% of our second quarter revenues and reported pretax book income of $21 million.

Industrial construction services, which is represented by TRC, had another significantly strong quarter with a revenue contribution of $49.6 million or 22% of our second quarter consolidated revenues and pretax book income of $4 million. These numbers represent revenues growth of 52% and a pretax book income increase of 38% compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2024. TRC primarily provide solutions for industrial construction projects with a concentration in agriculture, petrochemical, pulp and paper, water and power and has seen a great deal of market interest for their capabilities as a project partner as many companies onshore or expand their U.S. manufacturing operations. TRC has a strong footprint in the Southeast region of the U.S., which is a notably high growth region for its focus industries.

Finally, we have our Telecommunications Infrastructure Services group, our smallest segment, which contributed 2% of our second quarter revenues. SMC Infrastructure Solutions is our operating brand in this segment, providing outside construction services for the utility and telecommunications sectors as well as inside the premises, wiring and services primarily for federal government locations and military installations requiring high-level security clearance.

As we have noted during the past several quarters, energy demand is expected to grow significantly over the coming years. The heightened demand stems from the growing number of data centers coming online as well as greater manufacturing activity related to the onshoring of semiconductor and battery and solar panel production, among other factors. All of these enterprises require reliable and high-quality power 24/7 in order to preserve operational security and efficiency. Additionally, as more drivers shift to electric vehicles, it's anticipated that more homes and public venues will install the EV chargers necessary to keep those cars on the road. With these considerations in mind, it is widely acknowledged that energy infrastructure worldwide needs to be expanded and strengthened to meet anticipated increased capacity demands.

Argan is energy agnostic, and while we are committed to assisting the transition to renewable power resources, we, along with the majority of the power industry recognize that new traditional energy facilities are needed to support stable grids and reliable power generation. With our proven track record and capabilities related to the construction and management of complex power facility projects for both traditional natural gas and renewable energy resources, we are ideally suited to support the build-out of the consistent and dependable power resources that will be necessary moving forward. We're energized by the pipeline of opportunities we're seeing and look forward to working with both new and existing partners who recognize our expertise and diverse capabilities as a valued collaborator on the anticipated impending build-out of power resources needed to meet the forecast of unprecedented demand.

In addition to ensuring stable power grids, we strongly support the shift to cleaner and more reliable power source resources, renewable projects represented approximately $570 million of our $1 billion backlog at July 31, 2024, with 91% of our current project backlog now comprised of projects that support zero or low carbon emissions. While we're pleased to have diversified our backlog with robust representation for renewable projects, we expect gas-fired and other thermal power plants to remain the core of our business for many years to come, especially as the industry seeks to provide consistent and high-quality power sources.

Now I'd like to provide some project updates. Gemma is at peak construction on the Trumbull Energy Center project in Lordstown, Ohio, where we're providing EPC services for a 950-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant. Trumbull is a combined cycle power station that will assist in fulfilling electricity needs as the region phases out several coal-fired plants. From start to finish, the project will entail design, procurement, construction and commissioning. Trumbull is designed to be one of the cleanest and most efficient combined cycle gas turbine projects in the PJM market, and we expect to complete it early in calendar year 2026.

As we've detailed on previous calls, we have three solar and battery projects underway in Illinois, all of which have received full notices to proceed with EPC activities. Just as a recap, the three facilities will provide 160 megawatts of solar power plus 22-megawatt hours of battery storage capability. These projects are exciting opportunities for us to demonstrate our capabilities in the renewable energy space.

We also recently full notice to proceed on a utility scale solar field in Illinois that will provide 405-megawatt of electrical power and we'll use pre-existing transmission and utility infrastructure from a nearby retired coal power plant. This major project represents the largest solar project to date for us and the continued expansion of our renewable business. This is an exciting time for us in the face of unprecedented energy demands with our experience and reputation as a full-service construction partner of choice for both traditional and renewable power projects. Argan is extremely well positioned to address the growing number of opportunities in our business pipeline.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Hank Deily to take us through the second quarter financials. Go ahead, Hank.

[Richard Deily, executive]

Thanks, David, and good afternoon, everyone. On Slide 11, we present our consolidated statements of earnings for the Second quarter of fiscal 2025. Second quarter revenues increased 61% to $227 million reflecting an increase in revenues from all of our operating segments as compared to the Second quarter of fiscal 2024.

In the second quarter, our Power Industry Services segment achieved a 65% increase in revenues, primarily related to increased quarterly construction activities for the Midwest solar and battery projects, the Trumbull Energy Center, the 405-megawatt Midwest solar project and the Louisiana LNG facility. In our Industrial Construction Services segment, PRC achieved revenue growth of 52% driven by increased field services activity.

For the 3-month period ended July 31, 2024, Argan reported consolidated gross profit of approximately $31.1 million, which represented a gross profit percentage of approximately 13.7% and reflected positive contributions from all three reportable business segments. Consolidated gross profit for the comparative quarter ended July 31, 2023 was $23.7 million, representing a gross profit percentage of 16.8%. The decline in the gross profit during the current period was primarily due to a change in the mix of projects and contract types.

Selling, general and administrative expenses of $12.4 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 increased as compared to SG&A of $10.5 million for the comparable prior year period. But these expenses decreased as a percentage of revenues to 5.5% in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 as compared to 7.4% in the second quarter of fiscal 2024.

Net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 was $18.2 million, or $1.31 per diluted share compared to $12.8 million or $0.94 per diluted share for last year's comparable quarter. EBITDA or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, for the quarter ended July 31, 2024, was $24.8 million compared to $17.9 million reported for the same period of last year.

Net income for the first six months of fiscal 2025 was $26.1 million or $1.90 per diluted share compared to $14.9 million or $1.10 per diluted share for the first six months of last fiscal year. And EBITDA was $36.7 million for the six months ended July 31, 2024, compared with EBITDA of $21.6 million for the first six months of fiscal 2024.

With that, I'll turn the call back to David.

[David Watson, executive]

Thanks, Hank. Turning to Slide 12. Our consolidated project backlog exceeded $1 billion at July 31, 2024, and represented an increase of approximately 25% from the balance of project backlog at the close of the first quarter of fiscal 2025. Our backlog includes a healthy group of longer-term, fully committed projects in both the power industry services in Industrial Services segments and as mentioned earlier, approximately $570 million of the backlog is comprised of renewable projects.

On Slide 13, we show certain major projects currently included in our project backlog. Earlier in the call, I mentioned our activity at the Trumbull Energy Center in Ohio. I also detailed the progress of three solar plus battery projects in Illinois, which we have full notices to proceed and our full notice to proceed on a utility scale solar field in Illinois that will provide 405-megawatts of electrical power.

During the quarter, as previously announced, we also entered into a full notice to proceed on a subcontract to install five 90-megawatt gas turbines to provide dedicated power to an LNG facility in Louisiana. This project, led by Gemma will be a collaboration with TRC and APC and demonstrates our ability to bring comprehensive solutions to market quickly.

Also included in our project backlog are two separate water treatment plant projects being performed by TRC, over in Ireland, the three ESP FlexGen peaker power plants and the Shannonbridge thermal plants are both in the final stages of those projects. As I mentioned, the growing urgency of power grid operators in this country to ensure that we have the infrastructure in place to meet the forecasted growth in energy demand is hastening the number of new projects coming to market. Our backlog represents a diverse group of projects that reflect our wide range in operational capabilities and highlight the market recognition of our leadership role as an effective and reliable industry partner.

Our balance sheet remains strong. At July 31, 2024, we had approximately $485 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments generating meaningful investment yields. Our net liquidity was $260 million, and we had no debt. Stockholders' equity was $308 million at July 31, 2024. This liquidity bridge demonstrates that our business model ordinarily requires a low level of capital expenditures. Our net liquidity of $259.8 million at July 31, 2024, has increased $14.9 million compared with net liquidity at January 31, 2024.

Since November 2021, we have returned a total of approximately $101.6 million to shareholders as we've repurchased approximately 2.7 million shares of our common stock or approximately 17% of shares outstanding at the beginning of the program at an average price of $37.67 per share. Additionally, in September 2023, we increased the company's quarterly dividend 20% from $0.25 to $0.30 per share, reflecting the strength of our business and increasing our annual run-rate to $1.20 per share. Our company is dedicated to driving long-term value creation for shareholders.

While our operating results can vary from quarter-to-quarter related to the timing of contracts, we remain focused on delivering long-term value to shareholders. Since 2008, we have increased our tangible book value and cumulative dividends per share considerably. We are excited about what the future holds for Argan, and we are committed to growing our leadership role as a trusted construction partner for all types of energy facilities. We have a long history of proven success with both traditional gas-fired as well as renewable projects, providing us a competitive advantage as existing and potential customers look to identify the best partner to help them build reliable energy resources in the face of unprecedented demand.

For a data point, the Wall Street Journal recently reported that as of May, there were 133 natural gas-fired power plants under development in the United States according to S&P Global Commodity Insights, as recent forecasts project an 18% increase in natural gas-fired power generation between now and 2035. We believe we have a good reason to be optimistic about the continued demand for our services. As we move through the balance of fiscal 2025, we are focused on winning the complex design and construction projects best suited to our capabilities that will add much needed liability in energy security to an already strained power grid.

To close, we remain focused on our long-term growth strategy, leverage our core competencies to capitalize on existing and emerging market opportunities, maintain disciplined risk management with the goal of improving our project management effectiveness and minimizing costly project overruns. Strengthen our position as a partner of choice in the construction of low and net zero emission power generation facilities as the industry transitions to cleaner energy alternatives while maintaining grid reliability.

And last but not least, drive organic growth while also being alert for acquisition opportunities that make sense for our business through thoughtful capital allocation. We're pleased with our progress to the first half of 2025, which has built a strong foundation for our continued success. We are focused on expanding our reach as a partner of choice to customers in traditional natural gas-fired and renewable power industries as well as growing our customer base in the industrial segment of our business. I'd like to thank our employees for their dedication to executing each job on time and on budget and to thank our shareholders for their continued support.

With that, operator, let's open it up for questions.

[Operator]

Thank you. At this time, we will be conducting a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Chris Moore with CJS Securities.

[Christopher Moore, analyst]

Certainly start with -- you had referenced the 133 natural gas projects. We talked a little bit about that last quarter. It sounds like there are kind of two primary challenges, one is turbine demand is currently outstripping supply, and perhaps the bigger one is the interconnect agreements. Can you talk a little bit about those two and kind of what you're seeing at this point?

[David Watson, executive]

Yes, sure. The interconnection agreements continue to be a headwind, but what folks are really doing now is you're seeing a lot of developments that are moving ahead with what they call behind the meter power-generating assets and the number of the projects that we're targeting are just that behind-the-meter power generating assets that ultimately do want to be connected to the grid. But given the timeline on being able to do that, can stretch out many years longer than folks want to get ready now. So that is a known issue. It's a known issue, not just for natural gas but also for renewables and something that the grid operators are working feverishly trying to remedy with various efforts. But the show must go on and folks are planning to build with or without interconnection agreements from here and there.

As it relates to the turbine manufacturing limitations, that's correct. AI is a global phenomenon, power use is up across the globe, not just in the U.S. And so the turbine manufacturers, notably GE, Siemens and Mitsubishi are flat out right now. And they are obviously trying to increase their capacity, but it is something where folks are having to make commitments early in the process to, in a way, get a place in line to get a turbine and those who do have a place in line to get a turbine they, are clearly can move their development forward quicker than others. So it's -- both of these items are headwinds, which is few and far between given all the tailwinds in our space.

[Christopher Moore, analyst]

Absolutely. Backlog, $1 billion, $570 million of that renewable, I think your record backlog was maybe $1.4 billion 10 years ago. So maybe two questions there. Is there such thing as kind of an optimal backlog level that you think about? And what would be that optimal mix between natural gas and renewables?

[David Watson, executive]

Well, the optimal backlog amount and I'll tell all of my teams and the guys and gals that are doing all the hard work to cover their ears, has got to be in the multiple of billions of dollars from my perspective. That being said, obviously, there are operational capacity considerations . And while I believe we've expanded that and can work on 10-plus jobs any given time, both gas and renewable, it is something to always be mindful of. But as it relates to the mix of the backlog, to me, it really just depends on where we are in the market.

I think historically, we have been a builder of gas-fired power plants, and that is our sweet spot. But clearly, we have grown our renewable business and hope to have that sustainably as a big piece of our business on a go-forward basis. So what does that mix look like? I don't really have one, Chris, except that typically would be north of 50% for gas and south of that for renewables. And don't forget about our industrial business as well, which is significant as well.

[Christopher Moore, analyst]

Just on the gas side, what's the likelihood of closing beginning work on a relatively large natural gas project calendar in 2025? Just trying to get a sense as I know you had talked about some at the end of Q4, any further thoughts there on how those projects are progressing?

[David Watson, executive]

Yes. So we just got above $1 billion in backlog. And you're already asking for more, Chris.

[Christopher Moore, analyst]

I was.... natural gas...

[David Watson, executive]

Understood. So yes, we do continue to have visibility. We clearly are in a strong market and given our capabilities around natural gas builds. So given the support that we're seeing, say, in ERCOT with the Texas Energy Fund, given the support that we're seeing actually in the PJM with the strong capacity price signal that was just sent out, which was about $270 per megawatt, which is a 900% increase from the last one. So there is a lot of positive data points out there that support natural gas build-outs. And I know we already talked about some of those headwinds earlier on this call. But for us, we do expect to have multiple gas power plants under contract working on generating revenue over the next 5 to 10 months.

[Christopher Moore, analyst]

Last one for me, anything worth mentioning on the Kilroot situation at this point in time?

[David Watson, executive]

Well, I mean, it's had very minimal P&L impact during Q2 since the operational phase has concluded. As you know, we have a $12.8 million loss on the project, which is significant and disappointing, but we consider all things and make our best efforts to get to -- at the end of the day, not a whole lot to add there. We are going to continue to vigorously go after our claims, which are in excess of $25 million and continue to pursue all the rights under the contract.

[Operator]

The next question comes from Rob Brown with Lake Street Capital.

[Robert Brown, analyst]

Just sort of following up on the TRC business, it was very strong this quarter. Could you give us a sense of sort of how that business is, the environment is there and what the opportunity pipeline is in that market?

[David Watson, executive]

Yes, absolutely. And the -- and it was a record quarter, and I guess I really didn't stress that enough in the prepared remarks. I mean revenues of almost $50 million in Q2. And Rob, they've generated over $170 million of revenue and over $16 million of EBITDA over the last 12 months. So it's just been a tremendous growth and success story.

And with that, there has been a conversion of backlog to revenue. So TRC, I believe, is positioned with the right leadership team to grow. I do think that there might be a little bit of a slight dip over the next quarter or two in their backlog given the amount of revenues that they're generating and given my visibility on our visibility in the timing of future project awards, which you know is always difficult for us to predict both for our industrial business as well as for our power business.

[Robert Brown, analyst]

So it sounds like a little hard to predict, but do you see sort of a strengthening pipeline there like [ you ] on the gas side...

[David Watson, executive]

I do. It's perfectly positioned in the Southeast. And I guess I was kind of talking a little bit to the very short-term nature of things. But from a long-term standpoint, TRC should continue to generate this growth in the revenues, and we're really excited about that.

[Robert Brown, analyst]

And then on the solar battery projects that you have going now, could you remind us again on the timeline of those? How long those sort of burn off revenue? And how long do those take to complete roughly?

[David Watson, executive]

Yes. So there's three solar battery projects and not all projects are in the same phase of construction. But we are -- a couple of the projects are targeted to be completed by the end of this fiscal year and then one of them is a little bit after that. So the timing of those projects is, again, most of the solar jobs are pretty quick burns and these are no exceptions.

[Robert Brown, analyst]

And then, I guess, looking back to your comments on the gas projects with [indiscernible] projects in the next sort of 5 to 10 months. I think you said. Are those seeing some of these project delays that you talked about earlier? Or are those really just going through their own process about the timeline you expected?

[David Watson, executive]

I mean we're seeing them continue to check off all the milestone efforts in the developmental process. And right, those are EPA air permits. Those are getting gas to the site, it's land acquisition, it's raising capital and a myriad of other things, including securing a turbine. So we do feel really good about the number of projects that we've been tracking and been working with potential customers on to be able to make the statement that we expect multiple projects over the next 5 to 10 months.

[Operator]

Okay. We have no further questions in queue, we've reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call back over to David Watson for closing remarks.

[David Watson, executive]

Well, thank you all for participating in today's call. And Hank, thank you for all that you have done for Argan. I have cheers working with you over the years. So thank you.

[Richard Deily, executive]

Well, David, you're welcome. I thank Argan and the listeners out there are Argan. I thank them for giving me this opportunity to work for almost 17 years doing what I'd love to do. This has been a great opportunity for me.

One of the best things that ever happened to me in my professional career is having the opportunity to work with David. He's taught me or did teach me much and it's been a great ride. So thank you for the opportunity and good luck to Argan going forward and I'll be around.

[David Watson, executive]

Thanks, Hank. With that, we look forward to speaking with you again when we report our Third quarter fiscal 2025 results, and have a great evening, everybody.

[Operator]

Thank you. This concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.