Vulcan Materials Hits an Earnings Bullseye, While United Rentals Shows Patience
Let's break down the latest results from the materials company, and what's happening as equipment rental company backs off an acquisition.
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This morning we saw a very strong beat from TheStreet Pro Portfolio holding Vulcan Materials VMC. The materials company posted a solid 21% beat above estimates on the bottom line and a healthy beat on the top line.
In the report, Vulcan guided higher for the remainder of 2025, seeing double-digit growth in the aggregates segment cash gross profit per ton. That was a pleasant surprise to shareholders, as the stock is around 5% higher in early trading.
With regards to the just-finished quarter, the company was upbeat about the environment and remains positive, expecting shipments of asphalt, concrete and construction aggregates to grow between 3-5% in 2025. Revenue forecasts were lifted nicely for the coming year; the low end of the range is the average that analysts were expecting (2.35 billion-2.55 bilion). CEO Tom Hill stated, "Vulcan continues to show strength in public construction activity and recent acquisitions support expectation of volume growth in 2025."
We'll be reviewing our price target on Vulcan and adding more comments after the morning call from the company.
United Rentals
Meanwhile, with United Rentals URI, perhaps the cost of acquiring H&E was too steep. The latter company received a superior offer from Herc Holdings and at this time URI will not submit a revised proposal. The potential acquisition would have bolstered URI's offerings but the company was only willing to go so far on the price. As a result, H&E will pay a $63.5 million fee to terminate the deal.
Following the termination of the deal, URI will restart its share repurchase plan, $250 million of which remains on the $1.5 billion buyback program. URI shares are off a bit this morning but we suspect the company will use this weakness to add more shares.
Both Vulcan Materials and United Rentals are rated One in TheStreet Pro Portfolio, or "buy at anytime."
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At the time of publication, TheStreet Pro Portfolio was long VMC and URI.
