Belden Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) ("Belden" or the "Company"), a leading global supplier of complete connection solutions, today reported fiscal fourth quarter and full year results for the period ended December 31, 2024.

Fourth Quarter 2024 Highlights

• Revenues of $666 million, up 21% y/y and up 14% y/y organically
• GAAP EPS of $1.42, up 56% y/y
• Adjusted EPS of $1.92, up 32% y/y
• Repurchased 0.5 million shares for $55 million during the quarter

Full Year 2024 Highlights

• Revenues of $2,461 million, down 2% y/y and down 6% y/y organically
• GAAP EPS of $4.80, down 15% y/y
• Adjusted EPS of $6.36, down 7% y/y
• Free Cash Flow of $223 million, up 3% y/y
• Repurchased 1.3 million shares for $133 million during the year

"I am proud of our team for delivering an excellent quarter and ending the year on a high note," said Ashish Chand, President and CEO of Belden. "Demand continues to remain steady, with sequential orders up modestly for the quarter and increasing 9% for the year. Performance during the quarter was strong, marked by 21% year-over-year revenue growth with expanding margins. As business conditions continue to improve, I am pleased to report that our revenues grew organically in the fourth quarter by 14% with strength in both segments. Free cash flow for the year reached $223 million, providing the business with ample capital to allocate towards compelling acquisition opportunities while also returning capital to shareholders through share repurchases when appropriate."

Fourth Quarter 2024

Revenues for the quarter increased $115 million, or 21%, to $666 million from $551 million in the year-ago period. Revenues increased 14% organically, with Automation Solutions and Smart Infrastructure Solutions both up 14%. Net income was $58 million, compared to $39 million in the year-ago period. Net income as a percentage of revenues was 8.8%, compared to 7.0% in the year-ago period. EPS totaled $1.42 for the quarter, compared to $0.91 in the year-ago period.

Adjusted EBITDA was $114 million, up $26 million, or 29%, compared to $88 million in the year-ago period. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 17.1%, up 110 bps, compared to 16.0% in the year-ago period. Adjusted EPS was $1.92, increasing 32% compared to $1.46 in the year-ago period. Relative to our prior guidance, Adjusted EPS benefited in the fourth quarter by $0.17 from a lower-than-expected tax rate. Adjusted results are non-GAAP measures, and a non-GAAP reconciliation table is provided as an appendix to this release.

Full Year 2024

Revenues for the year decreased $51 million, or 2%, to $2,461 million from $2,512 million in the prior year. Revenues were down 6% organically, with Automation Solutions down 6% and Smart Infrastructure Solutions down 5%. Net income was $198 million, compared to $243 million in the prior year. Net income as a percentage of revenues was 8.1%, compared to 9.7% in the prior year. EPS totaled $4.80 for the year, compared to $5.66 in the prior year.

Adjusted EBITDA was $411 million, down $27 million, or 6%, compared to $438 million in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 16.7%, down 70 bps, compared to 17.4% in the prior year. Adjusted EPS was $6.36, decreasing 7% compared to $6.83 in the prior year. Adjusted results are non-GAAP measures, and a non-GAAP reconciliation table is provided as an appendix to this release.

Outlook

"As we continue to drive our solutions transformation, we anticipate first quarter performance to reflect typical seasonality and stable demand," said Dr. Chand. "Our customers are managing through short-term uncertainties, and we expect further clarity as the quarter progresses. We are confident in the long-term growth potential of our key markets, our team's ability to execute effectively, and our capacity to allocate capital strategically to maximize shareholder returns while driving sustained growth and compounding value for the business over time."

For the first quarter, we anticipate order patterns to align with typical seasonality and expect our customers to remain in a neutral posture as they navigate this dynamic environment. Revenues are expected to be in the range of $605 million to $620 million, representing a 13% to 16% increase over the prior-year quarter. GAAP EPS is expected to be in the range of $1.03 to $1.13, representing a 14% to 26% increase over the prior-year quarter. Adjusted EPS is expected to be in the range of $1.43 to $1.53, representing a 15% to 23% increase over the prior-year quarter.

First quarter guidance includes a currency exchange headwind of approximately $15 million in revenues and $0.05 of EPS.

Earnings Conference Call

Management will host a conference call today at 8:30 am ET to discuss the results. The listen-only audio of the conference call will be broadcast live online at https://investor.belden.com. The dial-in number for participants is 1-866-575-6539 with confirmation code 7220743. A replay of this conference call will remain accessible in the investor relations section of the Company's website for a limited time.

Earnings per Share (EPS) and Organic Growth

All references to EPS within this earnings release refer to net income per diluted share attributable to Belden stockholders. Organic growth is calculated as the change in revenues excluding the impacts from currency exchange rates, copper prices, acquisitions, and divestitures.

BELDEN INC.

RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP MEASURES

(Unaudited)

In addition to reporting financial results in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, we provide non-GAAP operating results adjusted for certain items, including: asset impairments; accelerated depreciation expense due to plant consolidation activities; purchase accounting effects related to acquisitions, such as the adjustment of acquired inventory to fair value, and transaction costs; severance, restructuring, and acquisition integration costs; gains (losses) recognized on the disposal of businesses and assets; amortization of intangible assets; gains (losses) on debt extinguishment; certain gains (losses) from patent settlements; discontinued operations; and other costs. We adjust for the items listed above in all periods presented, unless the impact is clearly immaterial to our financial statements. When we calculate the tax effect of the adjustments, we include all current and deferred income tax expense commensurate with the adjusted measure of pre-tax profitability.

We utilize the adjusted results to review our ongoing operations without the effect of these adjustments and for comparison to budgeted operating results. We believe the adjusted results are useful to investors because they help them compare our results to previous periods and provide important insights into underlying trends in the business and how management oversees our business operations on a day-to-day basis. As an example, we adjust for acquisition-related expenses, such as amortization of intangibles and impacts of fair value adjustments because they generally are not related to the acquired business' core business performance. As an additional example, we exclude the costs of restructuring programs, which can occur from time to time for our current businesses and/or recently acquired businesses. We exclude the costs in calculating adjusted results to allow us and investors to evaluate the performance of the business based upon its expected ongoing operating structure. We believe the adjusted measures, accompanied by the disclosure of the costs of these programs, provides valuable insight.

Adjusted results should be considered only in conjunction with results reported according to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

BELDEN INC.

RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP MEASURES

(Unaudited)

We define free cash flow, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, as net cash from operating activities adjusted for capital expenditures net of the proceeds from the disposal of tangible assets. We believe free cash flow provides useful information to investors regarding our ability to generate cash from business operations that is available for acquisitions and other investments, service of debt principal, dividends and share repurchases. We use free cash flow, as defined, as one financial measure to monitor and evaluate performance and liquidity. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered only in conjunction with financial measures reported according to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Our definition of free cash flow may differ from definitions used by other companies.

BELDEN INC.

RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP MEASURES

2025 Guidance

Our guidance is based upon information currently available regarding events and conditions that will impact our future operating results. In particular, our results are subject to the factors listed under "Forward-Looking Statements" in this release. In addition, our actual results are likely to be impacted by other additional events for which information is not available, such as asset impairments, adjustments related to acquisitions and divestitures, severance, restructuring, and acquisition integration costs, gains (losses) recognized on the disposal of assets, gains (losses) on debt extinguishment, discontinued operations, and other gains (losses) related to events or conditions that are not yet known.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains, and any statements made by us concerning the subject matter of this release may contain, forward-looking statements, including our outlook for the first quarter of 2025 and beyond. Forward-looking statements also include any statements regarding future financial performance (including revenues, growth, expenses, earnings, margins, cash flows, dividends, capital expenditures and financial condition), plans and objectives, and related assumptions. In some cases these statements are identifiable through the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "forecast," "guide," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "target," "can," "could," "may," "should," "will," "would" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and expectations and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those suggested by any forward-looking statements for a number of reasons, including, without limitation: the impact of a challenging global economy, including the impact of inflation, or a downturn in served markets; volatility in credit and foreign exchange markets; the competitiveness of the global markets in which we operate; the inability of the Company to develop and introduce new products; competitive responses to our products; the inability to execute and realize the expected benefits from strategic initiatives (including revenue growth, cost control, and productivity improvement programs); difficulty in forecasting revenues due to the unpredictable timing of orders related to customer projects as well as the impacts of channel inventory; foreign and domestic political, economic and other uncertainties, including changes in currency exchange rates; the impact of disruptions in the global supply chain, including the inability to timely obtain raw materials and components in sufficient quantities on commercially reasonable terms; the inability to achieve our strategic priorities in emerging markets; the impact of changes in global tariffs and trade agreements; the presence of substitute products in the marketplace; disruptions in the Company's information systems including due to cyber-attacks; inflation and changes in the price and availability of raw materials leading to higher input and labor costs; the possibility of future epidemics or pandemics; changes in tax laws and variability in the Company's quarterly and annual effective tax rates; the increased prevalence of cloud computing; the inability to successfully complete and integrate acquisitions, in furtherance of the Company's strategic plan, as well as the inability to accurately forecast the financial impacts of acquisitions; the inability to retain key employees; disruption of, or changes in, the Company's key distribution channels; the presence of activists proposing certain actions by the Company; perceived or actual product failures; the impact of regulatory requirements and other legal compliance issues; inability to satisfy the increasing expectations with respect to environmental, social and governance matters; assertions that the Company violates the intellectual property of others and the ownership of intellectual property by competitors and others that prevents the use of that intellectual property by the Company; risks related to the use of open source software; the impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets and the resulting impact on financial performance; disruptions and increased costs attendant to collective bargaining groups and other labor matters; and other factors.

For a more complete discussion of risk factors, please see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on February 13, 2024. Although the content of this release represents our best judgment as of the date of this report based on information currently available and reasonable assumptions, we give no assurances that the expectations will prove to be accurate. Deviations from the expectations may be material. For these reasons, Belden cautions readers to not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Belden disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise, except as required by law.

About Belden

Belden Inc. delivers complete connection solutions that unlock untold possibilities for our customers, their customers and the world. We advance ideas and technologies that enable a safer, smarter and more prosperous future. Throughout our 120+ year history we have evolved as a company, but our purpose remains – making connections. By connecting people, information and ideas, we make it possible. We are headquartered in St. Louis and have manufacturing capabilities in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. For more information, visit us at www.belden.com; follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and X/Twitter.

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Belden Investor Relations

Aaron Reddington, CFA

(317) 219-9359

[email protected]