Lighting company Acuity Brands beats profit and sales expectations, citing ‘strong demand’ and pricing capture

Acuity Brands Inc. AYI, +1.38% reported Tuesday fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales that rose above expectations, citing “strong demand” and an ability to capture price. Shares of the lighting company were still inactive in premarket trading. Net income for the quarter to Aug. 31 rose to $115.4 million, or $3.48 a share, from $98.1 million, or $2.72 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of $3.95 beat the FactSet consensus of $3.61. Sales grew 11.8% to $1.11 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.08 billion. Cost of sales increased more than sales, rising 13.0% to $647.8 million, as gross margin contracted to 41.7% from 42.2%. The value of inventories rose 21.8% to $485.7 million. The stock has tacked on 1.2% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 SPX, +2.59% has slipped 3.8%.