ePlus, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUS) Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call November 7, 2023 4:30 PM ET

Company Participants

Kley Parkhurst - Senior Vice President

Mark Marron - President and CEO

Darren Raiguel - President and COO of ePlus Technology, Inc.

Elaine Marion - CFO

Erica Stoecker - General Counsel

Conference Call Participants

Maggie Nolan - William Blair

Gregory Burns - Sidoti & Company

Matthew Sheerin - Stifel

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the ePlus Earnings Results Conference Call. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Mr. Kley Parkhurst, SVP. You may begin.

Kley Parkhurst

Thank you for joining us today. On the call is Mark Marron, CEO and President; Darren Raiguel, COO and President of ePlus Technology; Elaine Marion, CFO; and Erica Stoecker, General Counsel.

I want to take a moment to remind you that the statements we make this afternoon that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements and are based on management's current plans, estimates and projections. Actual and anticipated future results may vary materially due to certain risks and uncertainties detailed in the earnings release we issued this afternoon and our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and in other documents that we file with the SEC, including the Form 8-K we filed on October 6, 2023, recasting certain disclosures in our most recent annual report.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of which the statement is made, and the company undertakes no responsibility to update any of these forward-looking statements in light of new information, future events or otherwise. In addition, we will be using certain non-GAAP measures during the call. We have included the GAAP financial reconciliation in our earnings release, which is posted on the Investor Information section of our website at www.eplus.com.

I'd now like to turn the call over to Mark Marron. Mark?

Mark Marron

Thank you, Kley, and thank you, everyone for participating in today's call to discuss our second quarter fiscal 2024 results. I will start with some key takeaways. ePlus generated solid results in our second quarter with consolidated net sales up 19%. This was driven by strong sales growth of 21% in our Technology business, which included 9% revenue growth in our services businesses. Diluted earnings per share advanced 14%, slightly lower than sales growth due to a shift in product mix, a decline in finance segment earnings given uneven deal flow and a tough compare year-over-year, as well as increased operating expenses which included investments in our key growth initiatives. Our second quarter performance benefited from continued market share gains and improved product availability that enabled us to deliver on orders from prior periods.