Itron Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) saw its share price climb by 26.23 percent on Tuesday to end at $107.02 apiece, after beating its own earnings expectations, thanks to the strong demand for its services.
Within Expectations
In an updated report on the same day, the technology company said that it ended the second quarter of the year with a non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.59, lower by $0.03 versus the same period last year, but exceeded its earlier expectations of $1.25 to $1.35.
Total revenues also finished at $563 million, a decrease of 7 percent from the $606.76 million in the same period last year, but fell within the company’s earlier guidance of $560 million to $570 million.
For illustration purposes only. Photo by Jimmy Liao on Pexels
However, attributable net income finished at $53.27 million, lower by 22 percent than the $68.3 million in the same period a year earlier.
“Itron delivered record gross margin, earnings well ahead of our expectations, and strong free cash flow in the second quarter, with revenue in line with our outlook—clear evidence of the structurally better earnings power this team has built,” said Itron Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) President and CEO Tom Deitrich.
“The demand environment remains constructive, supported by durable needs across grid expansion, resiliency, and affordability — and by the industry’s intensifying focus on time-to-power,” he added.
Better Q3, Full Year Expected
The company is expecting the third quarter of the year to be better than last year. It also raised its growth outlook for the full-year 2026 period.
For the three months ending September, revenues are targeted to improve by 1.37 percent to 3 percent year-on-year to a range of $590 million to $600 million, versus $582 million posted in the same period last year.
Non-GAAP diluted EPS is also projected at $1.50 to $1.60, or an expected 2.6 percent dip to up to 3.9 percent growth from the $1.54 in the same quarter a year ago.
For full-year 2026, Itron Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) raised its revenue outlook to a range of $2.37 billion to $2.41 billion, or an implied flat growth to a 1.7 percent uptick from the $2.37 billion posted in 2025. However, the new figures are higher than its earlier expectations of $2.35 billion to $2.45 billion.
Non-GAAP diluted EPS is also expected at $6.30 to $6.50, or an implied 3 percent dip to flat growth from the $6.50 registered year-on-year.
Hedge Fund Participation Weakens But Conviction Stronger
Institutional conviction strengthened for the company in the first quarter of the year, even as hedge fund participation declined sharply from the previous quarter.
Data from Insider Monkey showed that during the period, 38 hedge funds held positions in Itron Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI), lower than the 46 in the previous quarter.
However, institutional conviction strengthened further, with their combined holdings increasing to $538 million from $456 million previously, signaling that existing investors expanded their positions and remained confident about the long-term growth prospects of the company.
While we acknowledge the risk and potential of ITRI as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than ITRI and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and Cathie Wood 2026 Portfolio: 10 Best Stocks to Buy.
Disclosure: None.
