Mid-Cap Marvels: 3 Stocks That Crushed Sales Estimates in May

Key Points

• Three mid-cap stocks greatly surpassed sales estimates in May, generating revenue surprises between 15% and 50%.
• A much-discussed organ preservation and transplant stock impressed big-time, rebounding from its Q3 earnings disappointment.
• Jefferies sees +25% upside in a liquified natural gas (LNG) stock that just increased revenues by 57%.

In May, three stocks that released earnings stood out due to their massive sales beats. These names are mid-cap companies with market capitalizations between $2 billion and $10 billion.

Companies of this size are typically less covered by Wall Street analysts, creating larger opportunities for earnings surprises. Indeed, these companies surprised, leading to huge moves in shares.

TMDX’s Sales Rout Forecasts, Boosts Full Year Guidance

One stock that markets have had a love-hate relationship with over the last 52 weeks or so is TransMedics Group NASDAQ: TMDX. The healthcare company has beaten sales estimates and seen shares rise afterward in three out of its last four releases. However, the one time that the company missed estimates over this period resulted in dire consequences for the stock.

After the company’s Q3 2024 release came out at the end of October 2024, shares dropped 30% in one day. 

Luckily for shareholders, TransMedics delivered in its latest release. The company’s Q1 2025 sales came in at over $143 million, around 16% higher than the $123 million analysts expected. This resulted in revenue growth of over 48%, massively faster than the approximately 27% analyst forecasts implied.

This revenue beat enabled the company to post adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.70, more than twice the expected amount. TransMedics also increased the midpoint of its full-year revenue guidance by $34 million, adding fuel to its fire.

The company’s current full-year revenue forecast of $575 million implies growth of 30% compared to 2024. Shares rose nearly 20% in the day following the release. As of the June 10 close, the stock remains down around 20% from its all-time high closing price reached in August 2024.

ECG: +20% Sales Beat, Backlog Up 41% on Data Center Demand

Next up is Everus NYSE: ECG. This mid-cap construction services stock also handily beat expectations on sales, posting revenue of nearly $827 million in Q1. This was around $150 million higher than forecasted, resulting in a sales beat of over 22%. Sales growth was 32%, approximately four times faster than the Wall Street-anticipated growth of 8%. Aided by this topline number, the company’s non-adjusted EPS rose by 31% to $0.72. Analysts thought the figure would decline by 22% to $0.43.

Shares rose 17% on the day after the results. Although analyst coverage on this stock is relatively light, those that do cover it see a solid amount of upside in shares. Stifel Nicolaus and DA Davidson both raised their targets after the results. The average of their targets is just under $70, implying upside in shares of 16% from their June 10 closing price.

Stifel noted the 41% increase in the company’s order backlog as a reason for boosting its target to $70. The company’s backlog of $3.1 billion is slightly more than all the revenue generated over the last 12 months. This should help give the company a revenue floor going forward, providing it with a solid opportunity to continue growing sales strongly.

The company’s Electrical and Mechanical (E&M) backlog grew particularly fast at 46%. This was largely due to demand from data center buildouts, showing that the company is participating in this growing part of the economy.

Excelerate’s LNG Business Booms in Q1

Last up is Excelerate Energy NYSE: EE. Excelerate works in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. It has one of the largest fleets of floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) in the world. FSRUs are massive vessels that can not only transport LNG but can also convert it back into gas and deliver it to land-based receiving terminals.

The company’s Q1 sales were $315 million, beating estimates of $208 million by over 51%. Revenues grew by over 57%, compared to expectations of just 4% growth. Shares rose 10% afterward.

Jefferies recently initiated the stock with a $39 price target, implying upside of nearly 27% from its June 10 closing price. This reflects the rising global demand for LNG and the expectation that the company’s vessels will receive more valuable contracts once their current agreements expire.

However, others fear that LNG supply will significantly outstrip demand by 2030. This would put downward pressure on prices, potentially hurting Excelerate's investment thesis.

Overall, these three stocks had some of the most impressive sales beats in the market in May. Everus stands out in particular due to its rapid backlog growth, which creates an opportunity for sustained sales growth going forward.