Quarterly earnings results are a good time to check in on a company’s progress, especially compared to its peers in the same sector. Today we are looking at Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) and the best and worst performers in the gas and liquid handling industry.

Gas and liquid handling companies possess the technical know-how and specialized equipment to handle valuable (and sometimes dangerous) substances. Lately, water conservation and carbon capture–which requires hydrogen and other gasses as well as specialized infrastructure–have been trending up, creating new demand for products such as filters, pumps, and valves. On the other hand, gas and liquid handling companies are at the whim of economic cycles. Consumer spending and interest rates, for example, can greatly impact the industrial production that drives demand for these companies’ offerings.

The 12 gas and liquid handling stocks we track reported a mixed Q2. As a group, revenues missed analysts’ consensus estimates by 0.9%.

Big picture, the Federal Reserve has a dual mandate of inflation and employment. The former had been running hot throughout 2021 and 2022 but cooled towards the central bank's 2% target as of late. This prompted the Fed to cut its policy rate by 50bps (half a percent) in September 2024. Given recent employment data that suggests the US economy could be wobbling, the markets will be assessing whether this rate and future cuts (the Fed signaled more to come in 2024 and 2025) are the right moves at the right time or whether they're too little, too late for a macro that has already cooled.

In light of this news, gas and liquid handling stocks have held steady with share prices up 1.8% on average since the latest earnings results.

Best Q2: Flowserve (NYSE:FLS)

Manufacturing the largest pump ever built for nuclear power generation, Flowserve (NYSE:FLS) manufactures and sells flow control equipment for various industries.

Flowserve reported revenues of $1.16 billion, up 7.1% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 2.4%. Overall, it was an exceptional quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ operating margin estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ earnings estimates.

Flowserve achieved the biggest analyst estimates beat of the whole group. Unsurprisingly, the stock is up 5.1% since reporting and currently trades at $53.50.

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

SPX Technologies (NYSE:SPXC)

SPX Technologies (NYSE:SPXC) is an industrial conglomerate catering to the energy, manufacturing, automotive, and aerospace sectors.