Belden delivered a first quarter that exceeded Wall Street’s revenue and profit expectations, with the market responding positively to the results. Management attributed the strong performance to continued progress in its solutions transformation, particularly in driving organic growth in the Americas and expansion of gross margins. CEO Ashish Chand pointed to the company's ability to deliver comprehensive solutions across industrial and enterprise environments, highlighting a major automated warehouse customer win as an example of how Belden’s broad portfolio is creating incremental business opportunities. Management also noted that a favorable product mix and disciplined execution led to improved operating margins and cash flow.
Is now the time to buy BDC? Find out in our full research report (it’s free).
Belden (BDC) Q1 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $624.9 million vs analyst estimates of $613.7 million (16.6% year-on-year growth, 1.8% beat)
- Adjusted EPS: $1.60 vs analyst estimates of $1.49 (7.1% beat)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $104 million vs analyst estimates of $99.62 million (16.6% margin, 4.4% beat)
- Revenue Guidance for Q2 CY2025 is $652.5 million at the midpoint, below analyst estimates of $666.3 million
- Adjusted EPS guidance for Q2 CY2025 is $1.72 at the midpoint, below analyst estimates of $1.73
- Operating Margin: 11.6%, up from 9.9% in the same quarter last year
- Market Capitalization: $4.52 billion
While we enjoy listening to the management's commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls are the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention.
Our Top 5 Analyst Questions Belden’s Q1 Earnings Call
- William Stein (Truist Securities) asked about reshoring trends in U.S. manufacturing. CEO Ashish Chand explained that interest in bringing production closer to consumption is increasing, driving demand for IT/OT convergence, though some projects are delayed due to policy uncertainty.
- Aman Gupta (Goldman Sachs) sought details on tariff exposures and mitigation. CFO Jeremy Parks clarified that imports from Mexico are largely exempt and sourcing changes have minimized exposure to China, resulting in a neutral net impact for the next quarter.
- Rob Jamieson (Vertical Research Partners) questioned margin differences between segments. Parks noted that Smart Infrastructure margins were seasonally lower, while Automation Solutions benefited from favorable mix and targeted investments in solutions.
- Steven Fox (Fox Advisors) asked about early opportunities from reshoring. Chand said the “low hanging fruit” is digitizing legacy operations across industries, with most customers still early in this journey, and IT/OT convergence following as the next step.
- David Williams (Benchmark) inquired about the pace of demand and potential pull-forward. Chand responded that orders are not being accelerated, but there is increased interest and discussions regarding future projects.
Catalysts in Upcoming Quarters
In the coming quarters, the StockStory team will be tracking (1) the rate at which deferred customer projects in automation and smart infrastructure begin to convert to orders, (2) further progress in expanding margins as solutions sales mix increases, and (3) the company’s ability to navigate ongoing tariff and supply chain changes. Signs of recovery in global manufacturing and successful cross-segment product integration will also be important milestones.
Belden currently trades at $113.85, up from $103.10 just before the earnings. In the wake of this quarter, is it a buy or sell? The answer lies in our full research report (it’s free).
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