Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc., or RYAM, has reported losses from continuing operations for five straight years, but a second-quarter profit put the company in the black for the first six months of 2024.
The cellulose specialties product company reported earnings from continuing operations of $8.2 million in the quarter. That left it with a net profit of $6.6 million in the first half of the year.
In an Aug. 7 conference call, CEO De Lyle Bloomquist said Jacksonville-based RYAM’s results were helped by deferred coronavirus-related benefits under the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy for its plant in Quebec, Canada.
Bloomquist also cited other factors for the improvement.
“The overall performance was driven by strong results in our core cellulose specialty segment as we continue to pivot our mix to more specialty production and sales and focused cost reduction across the enterprise, which more than compensated for softness in some of our commodity businesses,” he said.
RYAM announced in April it would suspend operations indefinitely in July at its Canadian plant, which also benefited second-quarter results as customers placed advanced orders ahead of the shutdown.
“While we don’t expect the advance orders to repeat in the back half of 2024, we do expect to retain the majority of these sales in the future as we requalify production at our other plants,” Bloomquist said.
“Overall, we still expect solid results in the back half of 2024, driven by increased specialty sales and reduced operating costs.”
RYAM’s stock has performed poorly since it split with timber and real estate company Rayonier Inc. into separate public companies in 2014. But RYAM was one of the top performers among Jacksonville-based companies in the first half of this year, rising 34%.
The stock jumped again Aug. 7 to a 52-week high of $7.88 after the earnings report, putting RYAM 95% higher since the end of 2023.
Rayonier Inc. reported adjusted second-quarter earnings fell 53% to $3.7 million, or 2 cents a share.
“Market conditions remained challenging during the second quarter, translating to a 20% decline in adjusted EBITDA versus the prior year quarter,” CEO Mark McHugh said in an Aug. 7 news release.
“Much of this decline was attributable to lower harvest volumes in our Timber segments, reflecting generally softer demand and the deferral of some harvest activity. We expect to recoup much of this volume over the balance of the year, which should translate to stronger second half versus first-half results for our Timber segments, collectively,” he said.
McHugh said adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 7% in its real estate segment, which was attributed to the timing of closings in its development properties.
“However, our full-year transaction pipeline remains strong, and we expect that second-half results in our Real Estate segment will be significantly higher than first-half results,” he said.
Rayonier’s developments include Wildlight in Nassau County, where the company is headquartered.
Fidelity National Information Services Inc., or FIS, reported higher second-quarter earnings and increased its earnings forecast for the full year.
The Jacksonville-based financial technology company said adjusted earnings rose by 60 cents a share to $1.36, with revenue up 3% to $2.49 billion.
FIS in February sold off a majority stake in merchant payments company Worldpay and is focusing on its core banking technology business.
“As our second-quarter results demonstrate, we are executing across the growth vectors we laid out on Investor Day: to deliver accelerating profitable revenue growth and sustainable double-digit total returns for shareholders,” CEO Stephanie Ferris said in an Aug. 6 conference call.
After the strong second quarter, FIS raised its earnings forecast for all of 2024 from $4.88 to $4.98 a share to a range of $5.03 to $5.11.
Proficient Auto Logistics Inc. was basically formed in May by merging five automobile transport companies after its initial public offering.
As the Jacksonville-based company reported second-quarter earnings, Proficient said it agreed to buy a sixth company, Utah-based Auto Transport Group LC.
In an Aug. 9 conference call, CEO Richard O’Dell said that company is expected to add 8% to Proficient’s revenue growth over the next year.
“We believe that this is exactly the type of addition described to our investors during the IPO process,” O’Dell said, according to a company transcript of the call.
“It is large enough to meaningfully increase our scale. It is geographically well placed to increase our density in the western United States and brings along best in class management and operating profitability,” he said.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Proficient said second-quarter revenue of the five original companies rose 5.8% to $106.6 million.
The company had adjusted earnings of $4.2 million, or 28 cents a share, in the quarter.
Jacksonville-based space technology company Redwire Corp. reported second-quarter revenue rose 30% to $78.1 million.
“We once again delivered year-over-year revenue growth and positive adjusted EBITDA while delivering a strong performance in bids submitted and contracts awarded,” CEO Peter Cannito said in an Aug. 8 conference call.
Redwire was the top performing stock among Jacksonville-based companies in the first half of the year and more than tripled in price to a 52-week high of $8.23 in July.
However, the stock had fallen back in the month before the earnings report, and it fell 54 cents to $5.70 on Aug. 8 after the report.
B. Riley Securities analyst Mike Crawford upgraded his rating on Redwire from “neutral” to “buy” because of the drop.
“Altogether, we believe Redwire remains entrenched on a shortlist of winners in the new space economy, fueled by a strong portfolio of proprietary products and services that are enabling the next generation of space exploration and habitation,” Crawford said in an Aug. 9 research note.
Treace Medical Concepts Inc. reported second-quarter revenue rose 6% to $44.5 million, as the Ponte Vedra-based company rebounds from disappointing first-quarter results.
Treace Medical produces surgical treatments mainly for bunions but it is also developing treatments for other issues.
“We believe we’re uniquely positioned to expand our footprint in the foot and ankle market by continuing to deliver an exciting pipeline of differentiated reproducible solutions to comprehensively address the evolving needs of bunion surgeons and patients alike,” CEO John Treace said in an Aug. 6 conference call.
Treace Medical reaffirmed its May forecast that revenue will grow 7% to 13% to between $201 million and $211 million, which it made with its first-quarter report. But that forecast was lower than its previous prediction of $220 million to $225 million.
That sent the company’s stock down as much as $7.20 to a record low of $3.92 in May, well below its April 2021 initial public offering price of $17.
The stock had recovered some but fell by 16 cents to $6.50 on Aug. 7 after the second-quarter report.
Commercial real estate developer FRP Holdings Inc. is headquartered in Jacksonville but has focused on projects mainly in the Washington, D.C., market.
As it reported second-quarter earnings, FRP announced plans for two warehouse projects in Florida.
“We are maintaining our strategy of focusing on industrial development and expanding our footprint on a square footage and regional basis,” CEO John Baker III said in FRP’s Aug. 8 conference call.
“In July, we closed on the purchase of the land for our industrial joint venture in Broward County, Florida, for a total purchase price of $24.5 million. We also closed on the land for our other industrial JV in Lakeland, Florida, last quarter for a total purchase price of $2.8 million.”
FRP reported second-quarter earnings more than tripled to $2.04 million, or 11 cents per share.
Jacksonville-based Firehouse Subs increased sales in the second quarter because of new restaurant openings, but sales at stores open for more than one year declined slightly.
Parent company Restaurant Brands International Inc. said Firehouse’s total sales rose 3.3% to $316 million, as the chain grew by 44 restaurants to 1,288. But sales at existing restaurants fell by 0.1%.
“Firehouse is becoming more convenient for guests by opening more restaurants and strengthening our digital leadership,” RBI Chief Executive Josh Kobza said in an Aug. 8 conference call.
He said the chain is focusing on driving more mobile ordering and promoting digital-only deals.
Toronto-based RBI also operates the Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons restaurant chains. Total sales at all four of its brands rose 5% to $11.25 billion, with comparable store sales rising 1.9% in the quarter.
Ponte Vedrea Beach-based Cadrenal Therapeutics Inc. has no products on the market and no sales, so its quarterly reports focus on the progress of its anticoagulant drug called tecarfarin.
Cadrenal says its drug is an alternative treatment for patients with certain conditions, including those with left ventricular assist devices, or LVADs.
“Our team is developing an LVAD study protocol and is eager to move ahead with Phase 3 trials to evaluate tecarfarin’s superiority to warfarin in LVAD patients and potentially bring our better anticoagulation solution to those in need,” CEO Quang Pham said in an Aug. 7 news release.
Cadrenal announced it has had discussions with Abbott Laboratories, which manufactures an LVAD, about collaborating on clinical trials.