Donaldson Company, Inc. DCI has failed to impress investors with its recent operational performance due to softness in the off-road and on-road businesses. Also, increasing expenses are likely to impede the company’s earnings in the quarters ahead.

Based in Bloomington, MN, Donaldson manufactures and sells filtration systems and replacement parts across the globe. Leading filtration technology, strong customer relationships and solid presence across diverse geographies are DCI's three core strengths.

In the past three months, this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company’s shares have lost 3.6% against the industry’s 1.8% growth.Zacks Investment Research

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Let’s discuss the factors that are likely to continue taking a toll on this company.

Business Weakness: Weakness in the on-road business, led by lower levels of global truck production owing to softness in industrial markets, is affecting the company's performance. Weakness in agriculture markets and soft end-market demand globally are upsetting DCI’s off-road business. In the second quarter of fiscal 2025 (ended Jan. 31, 2025), the on-road and off-road business’ sales declined 24.4% and 12.8%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. Management expects these weaknesses to persist in the near term and hurt the company’s performance.

Rising Expenses: DCI has been dealing with the adverse impacts of increasing expenses. The company’s selling, general and administrative expenses increased 1.5% in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 due to rising headcount and incremental expenses associated with investments in acquired businesses. The selling, general and administrative expenses, as a percentage of total revenues, rose 40 basis points to reach 18.3% in the same period. DCI’s overall operating expenses increased 3.9% year over year to $369.2 million in the first six months of fiscal 2025. The metric, as a percentage of total revenues, increased 30 basis points to 20.9%. Continued pressure from rising selling, general and administrative expenses may partially dent the company’s bottom line in the near term.

Forex Woes: Donaldson intends to become more competent on the back of overseas business expansion. It has operations in the United States and Canada; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; the Asia Pacific and Latin America. However, this exposes the company to several economic, political and environmental headwinds as well as movement in foreign currencies.

Supply-Chain Constraint: The company’s operation can be impacted due to supply-chain disruptions. DCI utilizes a variety of raw materials and components in its businesses and depends on others for the uninterrupted supply of raw materials at reasonable rates. It needs to adjust the prices of its products and services based on any changes in input prices, which may compromise the competitive position of its products and services.

Story Continues

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Some better-ranked companies are discussed below:

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CCK delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 16.3%. In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Crown Holdings’ 2025 earnings has increased 3.8%.

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GRC’s 2025 earnings has increased a penny in the past 60 days.

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Donaldson Company, Inc. (DCI):Free Stock Analysis Report

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Gorman-Rupp Company (The) (GRC):Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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