08:58 AM EDT, 04/03/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Acuity Brands ( AYI ) lifted its full-year earnings outlook on Wednesday even as the company reported mixed results for the fiscal second quarter, with sales that missed Wall Street's estimates.

The lighting products manufacturer now expects adjusted earnings to come in between $14.75 and $15.50 per share for fiscal 2024. In January, it provided an adjusted EPS outlook range of $13 to $14.50, while the current consensus on Capital IQ is for $14.94.

"While it is not our practice to address our outlook during the year, our performance in the first half was very strong and we are raising our full-year expectations for EPS," Chief Financial Officer Karen Holcom said during an earnings call, according to a Capital IQ transcript. The stock edged up 0.8% in premarket trading.

For the three-month period ended Feb. 29, Acuity's adjusted earnings climbed to $3.38 a share from $3.06 the year before, topping the Street's view for $3.23. Sales decreased 4% to $905.9 million, missing the average analyst estimate of $908 million.

Sales in the company's lighting and lighting controls division, known internally as ABL, slipped to $843.5 million from $890.8 million in the prior-year quarter, driven by declines across all channels, according to Holcom. Revenue in intelligent spaces jumped 17% to $68.1 million, buoyed by the company's energy management unit, Distech Controls.

Chief Executive Neil Ashe told analysts they didn't change their full-year sales guidance. "It will take a minute for us to continue to work through kind of the inflated sales from last year," he told analysts. In January, Acuity projected sales of $3.7 billion to $4 billion, with ABL down a low to mid-single digit. "We feel confident we're in that range," he said.

Acuity's adjusted operating profit margin improved by roughly 150 basis points to 15.5% in the most recent quarter, mainly driven by "significant" annual improvement in the company's gross profit margin, Holcom told analysts. Selling, distribution and administrative expenses edged down to $294.3 million from $295.2 million on a yearly basis

Price: 261.99, Change: +0.16, Percent Change: +0.06