Blue Bird Corp (NASDAQ:BLBD), the leader in electric and low-emission school buses, stock fell 3.43% (As on November 26, 11:29:38 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company posted mixed results for the fourth quarter of FY 24. The market demand for Blue Bird buses remains very strong with a 16 percent increase in orders over last year and more than 4,800 units in the order backlog. Unit sales were up 6% from last year and Adjusted EBITDA hit a record $183 million with a 13.6% margin. That’s an outstanding 6 percentage point growth in margin from just a year ago. In fiscal 2024, the company delivered over 700 electric-powered buses this year, nearly 30% more than last year. The company also saw strong growth in EV orders from the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program, ending the year with over 630 EV orders in the backlog, representing an impressive 13% mix of the total backlog. Following the nearly $1 billion funding from Round 1 of the $5 billion Clean School Bus Program, the company is excited for new EV orders over the next few quarters from Rounds 2 and 3, which provide almost $2 billion in new funding. These buses need to be delivered by mid-2026 calendar year, and the company is working aggressively with the dealers, school districts and fleets to support deliveries.

BLBD in the fourth quarter of FY 24 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 77 cents, missing the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 85 cents, according to analyst polled by FactSet. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 15.6 percent to $350.2 million in the fourth quarter of FY 24, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $344 million. Bus sales increased $45.8 million, primarily due to a 16.5% increase in units booked. Parts sales increased $1.4 million, or 5.6%, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.

For fiscal 2025, the electric bus manufacturer is projecting revenue of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion. Analysts are looking for $1.45 billion. For fiscal 2025, the company expects EBITDA to be in the range of $190-210 million (13.6% – 14.0% margin) and Adj. Free Cash Flow to be in the range of $40-60 million, which includes ~$50 million of extraordinary CAPEX related to expansion of the manufacturing footprint. Additionally, the company is raising the long-term profit outlook towards an Adjusted EBITDA margin to be in the range of 15%+ on ~$2 billion in Revenue.