Alto Ingredients reports Q1 EPS (17c), consensus (14c)

Reports Q1 revenue $240.6M, consensus $217.28M. Bryon McGregor, President and CEO of Alto Ingredients, said, “Our strategies to diversify revenue, improve capacity utilization rates, reduce costs and expand operating margins are coming to fruition. Our first quarter 2024 financial results benefited from improved crush margins and our efforts to increase essential ingredient returns and operating efficiencies. However, various weather factors materially impacted our first quarter’s performance. In January, a cold spike at our Pekin campus increased transportation related expenses, reduced production rates and caused a shift to lower margin feed products. For the remainder of the quarter, unseasonably moderate weather conditions and ensuing low natural gas prices resulted in an incremental loss of $4.9 M in from our energy hedging activities. Our scheduled biennial outage at our Pekin wet mill was completed in April 2024 and will result in more consistent and higher production rates, improving reliability as we approach the summer driving season. The market outlook for the rest of 2024 remains favorable, supported by solid corn inventories, improved export demand for ethanol and the EPA’s summer waiver for 15% blends.