Vaisala - Stronger H2 than expected upcoming
Vaisala upgraded its guidance and reported preliminary figures for Q3’22. Guidance raise was expected with strong demand seen throughout the year as well as the record-high order book. In its new guidance, Vaisala expects 2022 revenue to land between EUR 500-520m (prev. 465-495m) and EBIT to amount to EUR 62-72m (55-70m). Mid-point of the guidance implies y/y growth of 16% and an EBIT margin of 13%. Q3 received orders worth EUR 137.2m implies the demand continuing strong also in Q4 and possibly in Q1’23.
Strong H2 upcoming
According to the preliminary figures, Vaisala had a successful Q3 in terms of both sales and profitability considering the current market environment. Q3 net sales grew by ~20% y/y to EUR 133.3m (Evli estimate: 119.2m) and EBIT amounted to EUR 22.0m (Evli estimate: 19.6m). Q3 EBIT margin of 16.5% was approx. in line with our expectations. In our estimates, both BUs delivered strong growth in Q3, but the magnitude was more prominent in industrial measurements.
Estimating the growth to slow down in 2023
With upgraded guidance, we slightly adjusted our short-term estimates upwards. Our 2022 net sales estimate amounts to EUR 512.6m (17.1% y/y growth) and the EBIT estimate lands at EUR 65.1m (12.7% margin). We expect elevated cost pressures to restrict profitability somewhat. Only minor adjustments were made to 2023 estimates: we expect Vaisala to see more restrained growth with weaker macroeconomic conditions decreasing the investment activity. We expect Vaisala to show solid growth in H1’23 but slope to reverse in H2’23 due to a strong comparison period and economic uncertainty. In our view, valuation still stretches somewhat providing no large upside potential. We retain our HOLD-rating and target price of EUR 40.0 ahead of the Q3 result.