Wabash Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Results
- Quarterly revenue of $657.4 million
- Quarterly operating income of $57.7 million with operating margin of 8.8%
- Quarterly earnings per diluted share of $0.84
- Record backlog of $3.4 billion bolstered by the addition of long-term customer agreement
- 2023 Outlook initiated with midpoints of $2.9 billion revenue and diluted earnings per share of $2.85
LAFAYETTE, Ind. – (Trailer Technician) — Wabash (NYSE: WNC), the innovation leader of engineered solutions for the transportation, logistics and distribution industries, today reported results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2022.
For the fourth quarter of 2022, net sales were $657.4 million. Operating income was $57.7 million, or 8.8% of sales. Net income attributable to common stockholders was $41.5 million, or $0.84 per diluted share. Sales and EPS both reached record levels during the quarter. For the full year 2022, revenue totaled an annual record of $2.5 billion with operating income of $166.6 million, or 6.7% of sales. Full year net income attributable to common stockholders was $112.3 million, or $2.25 per diluted share. Full year 2022 achieved record levels for both sales and EPS.
Operating EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure that excludes the effects of certain items, for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $69.8 million, or 10.6% of net sales, and full year operating EBITDA was $224.0 million, or 9.0% of net sales.
Total Company backlog as of December 31, 2022 increased to approximately $3.4 billion as sequential new order activity substantially outpaced shipments, supported by a long-term agreement with J.B. Hunt that was executed during the fourth quarter. Backlog rose 46% compared to September 2022 and was 34% above December 2021. Backlog expected to be shipped within the following 12-months was $2.8 billion as of December 31, 2022.
“Although 2022 will go down as the most successful year of financial performance the Company has achieved so far, the groundwork to enable this execution has been in progress since 2019,” explained Brent Yeagy, President and Chief Executive Officer. “The changes to our strategy and the accompanying improvements to our organization that we’ve communicated in recent years have positioned us for this record performance, which we fully expect to expand upon in 2023.”
Outlook
For the full year ending December 31, 2023, the Company has issued guidance in the range of $2.8 to $3.0 billion in sales with a midpoint of $2.9 billion and earnings per diluted share of $2.70 to $3.00 with a midpoint of $2.85.
Mr. Yeagy continued, “With the partnership of strategic customers like J.B. Hunt, we are jointly exercising a new level of control over our destiny. The commercial implications of this activity are clear from a total backlog of $3.4 billion, which blows away our prior backlog record by almost $1 billion and already provides significant visibility in 2024. What is less noticeable, but just as exciting, is how our Wabash team has embraced the level of change we have driven in recent years and is creating a future with more opportunity for organic growth than the Company has enjoyed at any point since its inception.”
Business Segment Highlights
The table below is a summary of select segment operating and financial results prior to the elimination of intersegment sales for the fourth quarter of 2022 and 2021. A complete disclosure of the results by individual segment is included in the tables following this release.
Transportation Solutions’ net sales for the fourth quarter were $611.1 million, an increase of 37.9% compared to the prior year quarter, as a result of robust customer demand and strong production. During the quarter, operating income was $67.0 million, or 11.0% of sales.
Parts & Services’ net sales for the fourth quarter were $49.6 million, an increase of 30.2% compared to the prior year quarter, as a result of enhanced organizational focus and the early success of Wabash Parts, the Company’s parts distribution joint venture. Operating income was $7.9 million, or 15.9% of sales during the quarter.
Non-GAAP Measures
In addition to disclosing financial results calculated in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the financial information included in this release contains non-GAAP financial measures, including operating EBITDA, free cash flow, adjusted operating income and margin, adjusted net income attributable to common stockholders, adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted segment EBITDA, and adjusted segment EBITDA margin. These non-GAAP measures should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures and results calculated in accordance with GAAP, including net income, and reconciliations to GAAP financial statements should be carefully evaluated.
Operating EBITDA includes noncontrolling interest and is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, impairment and other, net, and other non-operating income and expense (including any loss on debt extinguishment charges). Management believes providing operating EBITDA is useful for investors to understand the Company’s performance and results of operations period to period with the exclusion of the items identified above. Management believes the presentation of operating EBITDA, when combined with the GAAP presentations of operating income and net income, is beneficial to an investor’s understanding of the Company’s operating performance. A reconciliation of operating EBITDA to net income, the most comparable GAAP financial measure, is included in the tables following this release.
Free cash flow is defined as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities minus cash payments for capital expenditures. Management believes providing free cash flow is useful for investors to understand the Company’s performance and results of cash generation period to period with the exclusion of the item identified above. Management believes the presentation of free cash flow, when combined with the GAAP presentations of cash provided by operating activities, is beneficial to an investor’s understanding of the Company’s operating performance. A reconciliation of free cash flow to cash used in operating activities, the most comparable GAAP financial measure, is included in the tables following this release.
Adjusted operating income and margin, non-GAAP financial measures, exclude certain costs, expenses, other charges, gains or income that are included in the determination of operating income under U.S. GAAP, but that management would not consider important in evaluating the quality of the Company’s operating results as they are not indicative of the Company’s core operating results or may obscure trends useful in evaluating the Company’s continuing activities. Accordingly, the Company presents adjusted operating income and margin excluding these special items to help investors evaluate our operating performance and trends in our business consistent with how management evaluates such performance and trends. Further, the Company presents adjusted operating income and margin to provide investors with a better understanding of the Company’s view of our results as compared to prior periods. Adjusted operating income margin is calculated by dividing adjusted operating income by total net sales. A reconciliation of adjusted operating income to operating income, the most comparable GAAP financial measure, is included in the tables following this release.
Adjusted net income attributable to common stockholders and adjusted diluted earnings per share reflect adjustments for non-cash impairment, debt transactions, and the impact of sales and divestitures, and the related tax effects of these adjustments. Management believes providing adjusted measures and excluding certain items facilitates comparisons to the Company’s prior year periods and, when combined with the GAAP presentation of net income and diluted net income per share, is beneficial to an investor’s understanding of the Company’s performance. A reconciliation of adjusted net income attributable to common stockholders and adjusted diluted earnings per share to net income attributable to common stockholders and diluted earnings per share, the most comparable GAAP financial measures, are included in the tables following this release.
Adjusted segment EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, includes noncontrolling interest and is calculated by adding back segment depreciation and amortization expense to segment operating income, and excludes certain costs, expenses, other charges, gains or income that are included in the determination of operating income under GAAP, but that management would not consider important in evaluating the quality of the Company’s segment operating results as they are not indicative of each segment’s core operating results or may obscure trends useful in evaluating the segment’s continuing activities. Adjusted segment EBITDA Margin is calculated by dividing Adjusted segment EBITDA by segment total net sales. A reconciliation of adjusted segment EBITDA to income from operations, the most comparable GAAP financial measure, is included in the tables following this release.
Information reconciling any forward-looking Operating EBITDA, Operating EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Income Margin, Free Cash Flow, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, and Adjusted EPS to GAAP financial measures is unavailable to us without unreasonable effort. We cannot provide reconciliations of the above noted forward looking non-GAAP measures to GAAP financial measures because certain items required for such reconciliations are outside of our control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted. Preparation of such reconciliations would require a forward-looking balance sheet, statement of income and statement of cash flows, prepared in accordance with GAAP, and such forward-looking financial statements are unavailable to us without unreasonable effort.
Fourth Quarter 2022 Conference Call
Wabash will discuss its results during its quarterly investor conference call on Thursday, February 2, beginning at 11:00 a.m. EST. The call and an accompanying slide presentation will be accessible on the “Investors” section of the Company’s website www.onewabash.com. The conference call will also be accessible by dialing (888) 440-6928, conference ID 6579482. A replay of the call will be available on the site shortly after the conclusion of the presentation.
About Wabash
Wabash (NYSE: WNC) is the visionary leader of connected solutions for the transportation, logistics and distribution industries that is Changing How the World Reaches You®. Headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana, the company enables customers to thrive by providing insight into tomorrow and delivering pragmatic solutions today to move everything from first to final mile. Wabash designs, manufactures, and services a diverse range of products, including: dry freight and refrigerated trailers, flatbed trailers, tank trailers, dry and refrigerated truck bodies, structural composite panels and products, trailer aerodynamic solutions, and specialty food grade processing equipment. Learn more at www.onewabash.com.