The stock price of Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) surged by more than 18 percent to around $41.81 per share in late afternoon trading, after the company reported strong earnings for the fist quarter of fiscal 2013.
Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) said its net income for the first quarter was $46.2 million or $0.51 per share, higher than its $38.9 million or $0.43 per share net income during the same quarter a year ago.
The company reported $1.76 billion consolidated net sales, down by 6.1 percent compared with its result during the first quarter last year, due to its weak performance in defense segments.
Oshkosh Corporation said its consolidated operating income during the three months period was $80.8 million or 4.6 percent of sales driven by increased sales in access equipment and emergency segments. In the same period, last year, its consolidated operating income was $75.4 million or 4 percent of sales.
The company posted $581.2 million sales in Access Equipment segment to external customers, a 15.1 percent increase compared last year.
Charlie Szews, chief executive officer of Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) said, “We started the year strong with results that exceeded our expectations as we continued to execute our MOVE strategy. MOVE provides a clear roadmap and targets for delivering shareholder value, and the Oshkosh team is working diligently to deliver against that roadmap.”
According to Szews, the operating income margins of each of the non-defence segments of the company improved in the first quarter. He is confident that the company is in the right position to achieve its long-term goals.
Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) repurchased approximately 4.25 million shares with an aggregate cost of $125 million. The company aims to spend additional $175 million to buy back shares within the 9 to 15 months.
The company raised its full-year outlook and expects to achieve around $2.80 to $3.50 earnings per share.
In December, last year, Carl Icahn dropped his bid to take over Oshkosh for $32.50 per share after less than 25 percent of the company’s shares were tendered before the deadline he had set expired. The board of directors of the company unanimously rejected his proposal and considered it inadequate and opportunistic. At the time of the offer, he owned 9.5 percent stake in the company, but has reduced his holdings in the company to 4.6 percent.
Icahn’s latest battle is against Bill Ackman about Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF). He had a little battle with Ackman on CNBC today, as we reported earlier.
