Xylem Inc. XYL reported mixed results for third-quarter 2018, wherein adjusted earnings came in line with estimates but revenues missed.Earnings/RevenuesThe company’s quarterly adjusted earnings of 77 cents per share came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The bottom line jumped 18.5% from the prior-year quarter.Xylem Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Xylem Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Xylem Inc. QuoteQuarterly revenues came in at $1,287 million, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,296 million. However, the top line improved 7.7% year over year.Segment DetailsRevenues in the Water Infrastructure segment came in at $541 million, up 4% year over year. This upside stemmed from improved utilities as well as industrial end-market demand.Applied Water segment generated revenues of $378 million in the third quarter, up 6.8% year over year. This upswing stemmed from robust commercial end-market business as well as strong industrial end-market business in the United States.Quarterly revenues of the Measurement & Control Solutions segment came in at $368 million, up 14.6% year over year. This improvement stemmed from robust Sensus as well as growth in water sector business in North America.Margins/CostsXylem’s cost of revenues in the third quarter was $782 million, up 8% year over year. Gross profit margin was 39.2%, down 20 basis points (bps).Selling, general and administrative expenses totaled $279 million, up from $270 million incurred a year ago. R&D expenses were $46 million compared with $45 million incurred in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted operating margin in the quarter under review was 14.6%, up 50.Balance Sheet and Cash FlowXylem exited the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $404 million compared with $414 million as of Dec 31, 2017. Long-term debt was $2,189 million compared with $2,200 million at the end of 2017.In the first nine months of 2018, Xylem generated $388 million cash from operating activities, higher than $379 million in the comparable period last year. Capital expenditure was $171 million compared with $119 million incurred in the year-earlier period.OutlookXylem stated that its pricing actions and stronger productivity will help mute the impact of prevailing headwinds owing to material cost inflation.The company currently expects generating revenues of roughly $5.2 billion in 2018, estimating organic revenue growth of 7-8%. In addition, the adjusted earnings for the current year has been revised to $2.87-$2.89 per share from the earlier guidance of $2.85-$2.95.Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider Xylem currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Some better-ranked stocks in the same space are Altra Industrial Motion Corp. AIMC, Cintas Corp. CTAS and DXP Enterprises, Inc. DXPE. While Altra Industrial Motion sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Cintas and DXP Enterprises carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.Altra Industrial Motion surpassed estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 5.04%.Cintas exceeded estimates in each of the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 7.22%.DXP Enterprises surpassed estimates twice in the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 101.32%.The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Cintas Corporation (CTAS): Free Stock Analysis Report DXP Enterprises, Inc. (DXPE): Free Stock Analysis Report Xylem Inc. (XYL): Free Stock Analysis Report Altra Industrial Motion Corp. (AIMC): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research