It has been about a month since the last earnings report for MRC Global (MRC). Shares have added about 3.7% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.

Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is MRC due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts.

MRC Global Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Miss

MRC Global reported fourth-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of 23 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 11 cents. The bottom line declined 28.1% year over year.

Total revenues of $768 million missed the consensus estimate of $812 million. The top line decreased 11.6% year over year due to lower volume in the Gas Utilities and Production & Transmission Infrastructure (“PTI”) sectors.

Revenues by Product Line

Based on MRC Global’s product line, revenues from carbon pipe, fittings and flanges decreased 16.9% year over year to $231 million. The same from valves, automation, measurement and instrumentation was down 6.2% year over year to $272 million.

Gas product revenues decreased 11% to $170 million. Sales for general products plunged 14.3% to $66 million. The same for stainless steel, alloy pipe and fittings declined 12.1% to $29 million.

Revenues by Sector

Effective first-quarter 2023, MRC Global combined its Upstream Production and Midstream Pipeline into one sector, which is the PTI sector.

Based on the sectors served, revenues from the Gas utilities sector decreased 21% year over year to $253 million, while the DIET sector sales increased 4% year over year to $258 million. Sales from the PTI sector decreased 15% year over year to $257 million.

Revenues by Segment

Sales generated from the U.S. segment (representing 82.4% of revenues) totaled $633 million, down 12% year over year. The decline in sales was due to decreased demand in the Gas Utilities and PTI sectors.

Revenues from the Canada segment (3.6%) decreased 39% year over year to $28 million due to weakness in the PTI sector.

Sales from the International segment (14%) increased 4% to $107 million driven by higher revenues from the DIET sector on growth in energy transition activity. This was followed by strength in the PTI sector in the Middle East and the U.K.

Margin Profile

In the quarter under review, MRC Global’s cost of sales decreased 13.5% year over year to $615 million. The adjusted gross profit was down 8.7% year over year to $168 million. The adjusted gross margin was 21.9% compared with 21.2% in the year-ago period.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were up 1.6% year over year to $125 million. Adjusted EBITDA tumbled 27.3% year over year to $48 million.