Otter Tail Corp (NASDAQ:OTTR) stock rose 9.95% (As on February 18, 11:15:36 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company posted mixed fourth-quarter (Q4) results despite delivering record earnings during the period. The company’s fiscal year 2025 guidance also came out ahead of analyst estimates. For the full fiscal year 2024, Otter’s EPS stood at $7.17, ahead of the expected $7.11. Its revenue for the year stood at $1.33 billion, slightly lower than an estimated $1.35 billion and falling from $1.35 billion in 2023. The consolidated cash provided by operating activities was a record $452.7 million in 2024, compared to $404.5 million in 2023, with the increase primarily due to a decrease in working capital and a $7.5 million increase in net income. Investing activities during the year included capital expenditures of $358.7 million and a $50.1 million long-term investment in U.S. treasuries. Capital expenditures during the year were largely within our Electric segment, including investments in our wind repowering and advanced metering projects, but also included investments in our facility expansion projects within our Manufacturing and Plastics segments. Financing activities in 2024 included the issuance of $120.0 million of long-term debt at Otter Tail Power, the proceeds of which were primarily used to fund capital investments. Other financing activities during the year included dividend payments of $78.3 million. As of December 31, 2024, we had $311.6 million of available liquidity under the credit facilities and $294.7 million of available cash and cash equivalents, for total available liquidity of $606.3 million.

Moreover, Electric segment operating revenues decreased $3.8 million primarily due to decreases in retail and wholesale revenues. Manufacturing segment operating revenues decreased $60.2 million primarily due to a 15% decrease in sales volumes.

OTTR in the fourth quarter of FY 24 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $1.30, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $1.24, according to Stocktwits data. The company had reported the adjusted revenue of $303 million in the fourth quarter of FY 24, missing the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $314 million.

The company sounded optimistic about the fiscal year 2025, with its guidance of EPS being in the $5.68 to $6.08 range, while the consensus estimate is at $5.62, according to The Fly. Assuming that Otter posts an EPS of $6.08 in FY25, it would still be lower by more than 15% compared to FY24.