May 22 & 23, 2024
Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland | Cleveland, OH

P&F Industries Eyes Challenge by Battery-Power Hand Tools

MELVILLE, NY - P&F Industries (NASDAQ: PFIN), which makes air-powered tools for inserting and tightening fasteners during assembly, saw third quarter revenue fall 16 percent versus a year ago, to $12.4 million, hit by the pandemic and Boeing’s 727 MAX aircraft troubles, though sales were up 8 percent from the second quarter of 2020.

P&F was able to tap federal Coronavirus Aid, receiving a $2.9 million Payroll Protection Program loan from the United States Small Business Administration, which helped fund payroll. “We plan to submit our application for forgiveness of the loan shortly,” said CEO Richard Horowitz.  

The downturn in global oil and gas market also hurt, Horowitz said, especially “the Boeing Company’s decision to continue to severely limit all production of its 737 MAX aircraft.”

A bright spot was automotive. “Our retail and automotive orders have begun to rebound and have increased significantly from the lows reached during the height of the pandemic.”  

Horowitz also said new opportunities relating to a number of military and commercial aerospace projects that have been under development throughout the pandemic.

“Tool samples for these projects are ready for testing at potential customers in the United States and Europe,” he said. “We expect product testing and evaluations to begin once potential customers are more fully staffed, which we hope will be sometime this year.” But the resurgence of COVID-19 in Europe - and since the quarter ended, the U.S. has seen a dramatic rise - “may once again delay these prospects.”

 In its SEC filing, P&F Industries also detailed longer-term threats to its business, including battery-powered hand tools.

“We believe that over time, several newer technologies and features may have a greater impact on the market for our traditional pneumatic tool offerings than currently exists. The impact of this evolution has been felt initially by the advent of advanced cordless, or battery-powered hand tools, particularly in the automotive aftermarket or in the retail sector. We continue to perform a cost-benefit analysis of developing or incorporating more advanced technologies in our tool platforms.”