Third Quarter:

• Sales were $649 million, a 2% decrease from the prior year
• Operating profit was $171 million
• EBITDA was $208 million, 32% of sales
• Earnings per share were $2.22
• Adjusted earnings per share were $2.35

Guidance:

• Narrowing previously issued full-year fiscal 2023 revenue guidance to 0% to 2% growth over record fiscal 2022 and adjusted earnings per diluted share to the range of $8.90 to $9.05 per share

Nordson Corporation (Nasdaq: NDSN) today reported results for the fiscal third quarter ended July 31, 2023. Sales were $649 million, a 2% decrease compared to the prior year’s third quarter sales of $662 million. The decrease in third quarter 2023 sales includes an organic decrease of 5%, partially offset by a favorable acquisition impact. The organic sales decrease was driven by ongoing pressure in electronics, primarily semiconductor dispense applications, and biopharma end markets, offset by strong growth in medical interventional solutions and polymer processing product lines.

Operating profit in the third quarter was $171 million. Adjusted operating profit, excluding $8 million in non-recurring acquisition costs plus severance costs, totaled $181 million, or 28% of sales, compared to prior year adjusted operating profit of $188 million. The 4% decrease in adjusted operating profit was driven by lower sales volume. EBITDA for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 totaled $208 million, or 32% of sales.

Net income was $128 million, or $2.22 of earnings per diluted share. Adjusted net income was $136 million, a $9 million decrease from the prior year earnings of $144 million. Third quarter 2023 adjusted earnings per diluted share were $2.35, a 6% decrease from the prior year adjusted earnings per diluted share of $2.49. The decrease was driven by increased interest expense and lower operating profit.

“During the fiscal third quarter, our team delivered strong profitability with 32% EBITDA and solid cash flow against persisting demand weakness in electronics and biopharma end markets. The team remains focused on the execution of our Ascend strategy to achieve top tier growth with leading margins and returns, as evidenced by the recently announced acquisition of ARAG and the steadfast deployment of the NBS Next growth framework. We are looking forward to the recovery of our cyclical end markets and the related incremental earnings power associated with the growth,” said Sundaram Nagarajan, president and chief executive officer.

Third Quarter Segment Results

Industrial Precision Solutions sales of $338 million decreased 1% from the prior year. The decrease was driven primarily by product assembly and nonwovens product lines in Asia Pacific, partially offset by continued strength in the polymer processing product lines. Operating profit in the quarter was $115 million, or 34% of sales, a 4% decrease from the prior year third quarter. The decrease in operating profit was driven by lower sales volume and changes in sales mix.

Medical and Fluid Solutions sales of $171 million decreased 4% compared to the prior year third quarter. The decrease was driven by continued softness in the medical fluid components and fluid solutions product lines, partially offset by strong double-digit demand for medical interventional solutions product lines. Operating profit was $54 million, or 32% of sales, a decrease of 11% compared to the prior year third quarter adjusted operating profit. The decreased segment profitability continued to be impacted by lower sales volume and sales mix changes within medical product lines.

Advanced Technology Solutions sales of $140 million decreased 3% compared to the prior year third quarter, as the favorable acquisition impact of 11% was more than offset by a decrease in organic sales of 13%. The organic sales decrease was driven by electronics dispense products serving semiconductor end markets, predominantly in Asia Pacific, slightly offset by continued growth in test and inspection product lines. Operating profit was $27 million. Adjusted operating profit, which excludes severance costs, totaled $29 million, or 21% of sales, an increase of 3% compared to the prior year third quarter operating profit. The improvement in operating profit was driven by favorable sales mix and realization of cost savings actions.

Outlook

Backlog entering the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 remains strong at $890 million and continues to be heavily weighted toward systems and medical interventional solutions. Order entry has been steady throughout the quarter. Based on current visibility, we expect fourth quarter sales to be the strongest of the year, increasing low-mid single digits over the prior year fourth quarter. This increase includes approximately $20-$30 million of sales from the acquisition of the ARAG Group, which is forecasted to close in late August. On balance, the Company is narrowing its previously issued full-year revenue growth guidance to 0% to 2% over record fiscal 2022 and adjusted earnings guidance to the range of $8.90 to $9.05.

Nordson management will provide additional commentary on these results and outlook during its previously announced webcast on Tuesday, August 22, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. eastern time, which can be accessed at https://investors.nordson.com. For persons unable to listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available for 14 days after the event. Information about Nordson’s investor relations and shareholder services is available from Lara Mahoney, vice president, investor relations and corporate communications at (440) 204-9985 or lara.mahoney@nordson.com.

Certain statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “projects,” “forecasts,” “outlook,” “guidance,” “continue,” “target,” or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. These statements reflect management’s current expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, U.S. and international economic conditions; financial and market conditions; currency exchange rates and devaluations; possible acquisitions, including the Company’s ability to successfully integrate acquisitions; the Company’s ability to successfully divest or dispose of businesses that are deemed not to fit with its strategic plan; the effects of changes in U.S. trade policy and trade agreements; the effects of changes in tax law; and the possible effects of events beyond our control, such as political unrest, including the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, acts of terror, natural disasters and pandemics, including the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the other factors discussed in Item 1A (Risk Factors) in the Company’s most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and in its Forms 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which should be reviewed carefully. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement in this press release.

Nordson Corporation is an innovative precision technology company that leverages a scalable growth framework through an entrepreneurial, division-led organization to deliver top tier growth with leading margins and returns. The Company’s direct sales model and applications expertise serves global customers through a wide variety of critical applications. Its diverse end market exposure includes consumer non-durable, medical, electronics and industrial end markets. Founded in 1954 and headquartered in Westlake, Ohio, the Company has operations and support offices in over 35 countries. Visit Nordson on the web at www.nordson.com, www.twitter.com/Nordson_Corp or www.facebook.com/nordson.

Management uses these non-GAAP measures internally to make strategic decisions, forecast future results, and evaluate the Company's current performance. Given management's use of these non-GAAP measures, the Company believes these measures are important to investors in understanding the Company's current and future operating results as seen through the eyes of management. In addition, management believes these non-GAAP measures are useful to investors in enabling them to better assess changes in the Company's core business across different time periods. Because non-GAAP financial measures are not standardized, it may not be possible to compare these financial measures to other companies' non-GAAP financial measures, even if they have similar names. Amounts may not add due to rounding.

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