After reporting an upturn in sales and earnings Wednesday, Astec Industries Inc. shares gave up their gains Thursday and dropped by nearly 7.5% in trading on the Nasdaq exchange.
The Chattanooga-based asphalt equipment maker said Wednesday its net sales rose by 19.5% since a year ago to $347.9 million, while the company’s adjusted earnings per share more than doubled from 41 cents a share in the first quarter of 2022 to 90 cents per share in the first quarter of this year.
In his first earnings report since being named Astec CEO in January, Jaco van der Merwe said Astec sales rose by double-digit levels in both its infrastructure solutions and it material solutions groups, and the company’s backlog of orders also rose in the period.
“The realization of benefits from prior pricing actions and solid demand across our end markets contributed to our performance,” van der Merwe said in the company’s quarterly report. “We are off to a good start to 2023 as investments in capacity have proven beneficial and we experienced fewer disruptions from our supply chain.”
Astec’s stock rose in trading Wednesday in response to the positive earnings, but Astec’s stock fell again Thursday over investor fears of an economic slowdown.