Equipment distribution company Alta Equipment Group (NYSE: ALTG) announced better-than-expected revenue in Q2 CY2025, but sales fell by 1.4% year on year to $481.2 million. Its non-GAAP loss of $0.11 per share was 46.3% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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LIVONIA, Mich., Aug. 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alta Equipment Group Inc. (NYSE: ALTG) (“Alta”, "we", "our" or the “Company”), a leading provider of premium material handling, construction and environmental processing equipment and related services, today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2025.

Company Overview

Founded in 1984, Alta Equipment Group (NYSE: ALTG) is a provider of industrial and construction equipment and services across the Midwest and Northeast United States.

Revenue Growth

Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one grows for years. Over the last five years, Alta grew its sales at an incredible 21.8% compounded annual growth rate. Its growth beat the average industrials company and shows its offerings resonate with customers.

Long-term growth is the most important, but within industrials, a half-decade historical view may miss new industry trends or demand cycles. Alta’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed significantly as its annualized revenue growth of 3.7% over the last two years was well below its five-year trend.

We can dig further into the company’s revenue dynamics by analyzing its most important segments, Equipment and Parts, which are 55.2% and 15.7% of revenue. Over the last two years, Alta’s Equipment revenue (new and used) was flat while its Parts revenue (maintenance and repair products) averaged 2% year-on-year declines.

This quarter, Alta’s revenue fell by 1.4% year on year to $481.2 million but beat Wall Street’s estimates by 0.6%.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 3.3% over the next 12 months, similar to its two-year rate. This projection is underwhelming and indicates its newer products and services will not catalyze better top-line performance yet.

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Operating Margin

Operating margin is an important measure of profitability as it shows the portion of revenue left after accounting for all core expenses – everything from the cost of goods sold to advertising and wages. It’s also useful for comparing profitability across companies with different levels of debt and tax rates because it excludes interest and taxes.

Alta was profitable over the last five years but held back by its large cost base. Its average operating margin of 1.7% was weak for an industrials business. This result isn’t too surprising given its low gross margin as a starting point.

On the plus side, Alta’s operating margin rose by 2 percentage points over the last five years, as its sales growth gave it operating leverage.

This quarter, Alta generated an operating margin profit margin of 2.6%, in line with the same quarter last year. This indicates the company’s cost structure has recently been stable.

Earnings Per Share

We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.

Alta’s earnings losses deepened over the last five years as its EPS dropped 28.1% annually. We tend to steer our readers away from companies with falling EPS, where diminishing earnings could imply changing secular trends and preferences. If the tide turns unexpectedly, Alta’s low margin of safety could leave its stock price susceptible to large downswings.

Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a more recent period because it can provide insight into an emerging theme or development for the business.

Sadly for Alta, its EPS declined by 144% annually over the last two years while its revenue grew by 3.7%. This tells us the company became less profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.

In Q2, Alta reported adjusted EPS at negative $0.11, down from $0.01 in the same quarter last year. Despite falling year on year, this print easily cleared analysts’ estimates. We also like to analyze expected EPS growth based on Wall Street analysts’ consensus projections, but there is insufficient data.

Key Takeaways from Alta’s Q2 Results

We were impressed by how significantly Alta blew past analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also excited its adjusted operating income outperformed Wall Street’s estimates by a wide margin. Zooming out, we think this was a good print with some key areas of upside. The stock remained flat at $7.17 immediately following the results.

Indeed, Alta had a rock-solid quarterly earnings result, but is this stock a good investment here? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free.