The distribution industry saw deceleration in sales growth in 2022’s fourth fiscal quarter. While 2022 was an overall robust year for the wholesale distribution sector, most distributors came back to Earth financially in 4Q.

Not DXP Enterprises, though.

The Houston-based pumping solutions and MROP supplies distributor continued to post exceptional financials in 4Q 2022. DXP’s 4Q sales of $406.3 million, up 38.6% year-over-year, were a company record, CEO David Little said April 14 when reporting DXP’s 2022 4Q and full-year financial results.

“During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, we delivered solid results despite the market volatility,” Little said in the report. “Our fourth quarter was the strongest fourth quarter performance in the Company’s history. These results demonstrate strong operational execution and the resiliency of our business model, which enables DXP to perform across the economic cycle.”

For 4Q 2022, DXP had earnings per diluted share of $0.37 based on 19.3 million diluted shares, compared to earnings per share of $0.05 based on 19.6 million shares in 4Q 2021.

DXP’s 4Q sales growth of 38.6% follows year-over-year sales growth of 33.8% in 3Q 2022; 28.7% growth in 2Q; and 30.1% growth in 1Q.

For the full year 2022, DXP posted sales of $1.5 billion, an increase of 32.9% over 2021. Earnings per diluted share for 2022 were $2.47 based on 19.5 million diluted shares, compared to $0.83 per share based on 19.8 million basic shares in 2021.

DXP posted year-over-year sales growth in each of the following business segments in 2022, according to the report:

• Innovative Pumping Solutions sales grew 65.6% to $231.1 million.
• Supply Chain Services sales grew 52.3% to $240.4 million.
• Service Centers sales grew 23.6% to $1 billion.

“Fiscal 2022 was another great year for DXP,” Little said. “DXPeople drove fourth quarter results well above expectations, with strong performance across all business segments. Consistent and resilient demand, along with price impacts delivered robust revenue growth in the fourth quarter on a sales per business day basis and throughout fiscal 2022. This growth has fueled a healthy momentum coming into 2023.

“The sales momentum from the fourth quarter accompanied by our backlogs has positioned us for further success as we move into 2023,” Little continued. “The strength of the balance sheet, the balanced end markets that we have delivered upon, and our ability to continue to execute on acquisitions have set the stage for 2023. We see positive dynamics in our traditional end markets like oil & gas, as well as positive outlooks for end markets like water & wastewater. We are confident our growth strategy, coupled with a continued focus on improving margins and maintaining operational discipline will drive shareholder value.”

DXP ranked as the No. 11 MRO Industrial Distributor and No. 23 Industrial Distributor on MDM’s Top Distributors List in 2022.