What Happened?
Shares of resource management provider Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI) fell 13.4% in the morning session after the company's weak fourth-quarter outlook overshadowed its third-quarter results.
Itron reported mixed results for the third quarter. While its revenue of $581.6 million and adjusted earnings per share of $1.54 both surpassed Wall Street's expectations, sales declined by 5.5% compared to the same period last year. Despite the quarterly beats, the company's forward guidance spooked investors. Management's revenue forecast for the fourth quarter was $560 million at the midpoint, coming in 4.4% below analysts' estimates of $586 million. This weaker-than-expected outlook, which suggests potential demand challenges, appeared to be the primary driver of the sell-off, overshadowing a raise in the company's full-year adjusted EPS guidance.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Itron’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. Moves this big are rare for Itron and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 17 days ago when the stock gained 4.4% on the news that the company announced it agreed to acquire Urbint for approximately $325 million. The acquisition was set to be funded from cash on hand, with the closing expected in the fourth quarter of 2025. This move followed a strong second quarter in which Itron delivered revenue of $607 million, achieved record margins, and generated free cash flow of $91 million. Although the company slightly trimmed its full-year revenue midpoint, it also raised its earnings per share outlook, signaling underlying financial health that supported the cash-funded purchase.
Itron is up 4.9% since the beginning of the year, but at $113.86 per share, it is still trading 17.7% below its 52-week high of $138.42 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Itron’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,676.
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