By Tomi Kilgore
Titan International Inc. Chairman Morry “The Grizz” Taylor said Thursday he believes the off-highway tire, assemblies and undercarriage products maker will have a “great” 2023, as the large-farm-equipment market is expected to continue to grow even in the face of recession.
And make no mistake, Taylor believes a recession is coming, and soon.
That’s different from a month ago, when Taylor said “threats of recessions,” as well as food and energy shortages, made for “crazy times.”
But Taylor assured investors that Titan is “running great” and believes 2023 will be “another great year” given the current market dynamics in farming. With crops likely to fall below peak levels this year, he believes that bodes well for next year.
“[T]here are some companies that can continue to roll along and will not be affected by the Big R in a big way,” Taylor said. “To sum it up, it is really great time to be producing wheels, tires and undercarriage in the farm business and [Titan] is in a great position,” he added.
Titan’s stock /zigman2/quotes/203775211/composite TWI +3.17% , which slipped 0.4% Thursday, has run up 20.5% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 index /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX -0.94% has dropped 21.4% this year.
However, that doesn’t mean investors should expect the stock to keep rallying. Taylor noted in September that the board of directors expected Titan’s stock to rise on Aug. 2, after “great” second-quarter results were reported, but the stock tumbled 16.5% that day.
Taylor suggested a reason for that unexpected reaction, and the for the uncertainty in how the stock will perform going forward:
The company is slated to report third-quarter results in early November. Taylor said revenue is expected to be “around” $540 million, after typical summer holiday shutdowns in Europe, typical summer plant maintenance shutdowns and normal seasonality.” The average revenue estimate of two analysts surveyed by FactSet is $544.4 million.
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