Earnings results often indicate what direction a company will take in the months ahead. With Q4 behind us, let’s have a look at Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) and its peers.

Many HVAC and water systems companies sell essential, non-discretionary infrastructure for buildings. Since the useful lives of these water heaters and vents are fairly standard, these companies have a portion of predictable replacement revenue. In the last decade, trends in energy efficiency and clean water are driving innovation that is leading to incremental demand. On the other hand, new installations for these companies are at the whim of residential and commercial construction volumes, which tend to be cyclical and can be impacted heavily by economic factors such as interest rates.

The 9 hvac and water systems stocks we track reported a mixed Q4. As a group, revenues were in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.

Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 10.9% since the latest earnings results.

Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX)

Playing a large role in the Integrated Pipeline (IPL) project in Texas to deliver ~350 million gallons of water per day, Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) is a manufacturer of pipeline systems for water infrastructure.

Northwest Pipe reported revenues of $119.6 million, up 8.6% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 0.6%. Overall, it was a mixed quarter for the company with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates but a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates.

The stock is down 15.7% since reporting and currently trades at $40.48.

Read our full report on Northwest Pipe here, it’s free .

Best Q4: Lennox (NYSE:LII)

Based in Texas and founded over a century ago, Lennox (NYSE:LII) is a climate control solutions company offering heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) goods.

Lennox reported revenues of $1.35 billion, up 16.5% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 8.9%. The business had an exceptional quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ organic revenue estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ EPS estimates.

Lennox scored the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. Although it had a fine quarter compared to its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 14.4% since reporting. It currently trades at $567.23.

Is now the time to buy Lennox? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free .

Weakest Q4: AAON (NASDAQ:AAON)

Backed by two million square feet of lab testing space, AAON (NASDAQ:AAON) makes heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment for different types of buildings.