Navistar Soars in Wake of Q1 Results

Shares of Navistar International

were trading at multi-month highs on Thursday after the company released a bullish first-quarter earnings report prior to the opening bell. Around mid-day, the stock had jumped better than 23 percent and was trading at $30.78. The 52-week high in the shares is $43.06. Navistar is a manufacturer of International brand commercial and military trucks, IC Bus (IC) brand buses, MaxxForce brand diesel engines, Workhorse Custom Chassis (WCC) brand chassis for motor homes and step vans, and Monaco RV (Monaco) recreational vehicles (RV), as well as a provider of service parts for all makes of trucks and trailers. For the first-quarter, the company reported a loss of $123 or $1.53 per share, compared to $153 million or $2.19 per share, in last year's corresponding quarter. The company's net loss from continuing operations narrowed to $114 million or $1.42 per share, from $144 million or $2.06 per share, in last year's first-quarter. This was much better than Wall Street analysts' consensus estimates which called for a loss of $1.76 per share. Net sales in the period were down to $2.637 billion from $3.01 billion last year. This missed Wall Street consensus revenue expectations of $2.81 billion. Separately, Navistar's board said that it has appointed Troy Clarke as president and chief executive officer, effective April 15. Currently, Clarke is currently the company's president and chief operating officer. The executive will also join Navistar's Board of Directors. The company's interim CEO Lewis Campbell, who also served as executive chairman, will relinquish these positions. Board member James Keyes will assume the non-executive chairman role on April 15.