Navistar Falls Most in 6 Months on Loss, Cash-Flow Forecast

[kscarbel]

Bloomberg / December 20, 2013

Navistar International Corp., the truckmaker that has Carl Icahn as one of its biggest investors, fell the most in six months after reporting a quarterly loss that was wider than analysts had estimated.

The shares fell 5.8 percent to $37.16 at the close in New York, for the biggest decline since June 20. The stock has added 71 percent this year.

Navistar recorded a net loss of $154 million, or $1.91 a share, for the fourth quarter ended Oct. 31, compared with a loss of $2.77 billion, or $40.13, a year earlier, when the company’s results included non-cash tax expense of $2 billion, according to a statement. Analysts had estimated a loss of $1.56, on average.

Navistar, which has posted losses for each of the last five quarters, reached an agreement in July letting activist shareholders Icahn and Mark Rachesky nominate two directors to the board. In return they agreed not to wage a proxy battle against the Lisle, Illinois-based truckmaker.

Today, Navistar forecast lower earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, and a decline in cash for the first quarter.

The forecast “elevates concerns and limits upside until volume recovers and margins improve” David Leiker, an analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co., wrote in a note. That’s not likely until “late 2014 or even 2015,” said Leiker, who rates the shares hold.

Navistar said it expects to end the first quarter with cash and marketable securities of as much as $1.1 billion, compared with $1.52 billion at the end of the most recent three months.

Fourth-quarter revenue fell 13 percent to $2.75 billion, the company said. That compared with a $2.95 billion median estimate from analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

[Red Horse]

Read another article (Navistar press release??) a few days ago that said they had basically turned the corner. Had a lot of their warranty costs cleaned up and sales were on a positive rebound. Hope so-hate to see one of our last American builders go down the tubes.

[mackdaddy]

Reads like the articles on Mack in the early 80's when they were hemorraging. They are getting to a point it will be real hard to turnaround.

And when you run out of cash it all but over without a takeover.