Perma-Fix Environmental Services (NASDAQ:PESI) unveiled Wednesday fourth-quarter earnings that smashed analyst estimates, as sales spiked on acquisitions.
The news sent Perma-Fix’s stock up 7.19 percent to $1.79 each on the Nasdaq on Wednesday morning.
For the fiscal fourth quarter that ended December 31, sales jumped 30.5 percent to $33.3 million compared to sales of $25.5 million a year earlier.
Net income attributable to Perma-fix totalled $5.85 million, or 10 cents a share, versus a prior year profit of $1.59 million, or three cents a share.
Analysts polled by Bloomberg were expecting earnings of two cents a share and revenue of $25 million.
The company's treatment division, which processes and disposes nuclear and low-level radioactive mixed and non-hazardous waste, saw revenue grow 8.4 percent to $15.7 million, aided by a rise in waste processed at its treatment facilities.
Revenue from the services unit, which consists of waste management and consulting services, increased to $17.5 million from $11 million a year earlier.
Gross profit grew 8.7 percent to $6.4 million from $5.8 million, thanks to an increase in treatment waste volume, the company said.
Quarterly gross margin was down to 19.2 percent from 23.1 percent, however, due to a higher sales contribution from the services division, which has lower margins than its treatment segment.
At the end of its fourth quarter, the company’s backlog stood at $14.6 million.
Last November, the company completed its $19.4 million acquisition of Safety & Ecology Corp, which it purchased from Homeland Security Capital Corp. (OTC:HOMS).
The company, founded in 1990, provides hazardous, mixed and industrial waste management services, as well as engineering consulting services to industrial and commercial sectors.