Blue Bird Corporation marked its 130th day as a publicly traded company and the start of the new school year by ringing the NASDAQ opening bell on Wednesday.
“It’s a special day for Blue Bird to be ringing the NASDAQ Stock Market opening bell and to mark the start of a new school year. This is a celebration for all of our employees and their accomplishments in building the world’s finest school bus,” said Phil Horlock, president and chief executive officer of Blue Bird Corporation. “We have enjoyed our short time as a public company and our stock has performed extremely well. Our company continues to grow and we are excited about our future.”
Blue Bird (BLBD) opened the day at $11.96 per share. On Aug. 18, the company reported that total net sales in the third quarter were $262.7 million, a 9-percent increase over the same period last year. Blue Bird sold 2,993 buses during the third quarter, an 8-percent increase over the same period last year.
The company’s parts business reported “flat” earnings of $14.2 million, but Blue Bird added that the figure “was a strong result recognizing that the third quarter of fiscal 2014 benefited from a sales rebound after severe winter weather delayed purchases from earlier in the year.”
Blue Bird also reaffirmed its full-year guidance of net sales ranging from $918 million to $940 million, an Adjusted EBIDTA of $72 million to $75 million and Adjusted Cash Flow of $35 million to $40 million.
Blue Bird began public trading on the NASDAQ on Feb. 25 after the stockholders of Hennessy Capital Acquisition approved the purchase of the school bus manufacturer from The Traxis Group B.V. for $427 million.
Watch @BlueBirdBuses ring the @Nasdaq Opening Bell in our brand new studio! $BLBD
