Flowers Foods Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings
Flowers Foods (NYS: FLO) reported earnings yesterday. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Flowers Foods met expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.
Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased and GAAP earnings per share contracted significantly.
Margins dropped across the board.
Revenue details
Flowers Foods logged revenue of $653.6 million. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw sales of $656.7 million. GAAP sales were 14% higher than the prior-year quarter's $573.1 million.
Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.
EPS details
EPS came in at $0.17. The 10 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.21 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.17 for Q4 were 26% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.23 per share.
Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.
Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 45.9%, 220 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 5.6%, 240 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 3.5%, 200 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.
Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $898.5 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.32.
Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.98 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.10.
Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 348 members out of 358 rating the stock outperform, and 10 members rating it underperform. Among 119 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 115 give Flowers Foods a green thumbs-up, and four give it a red thumbs-down.
Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Flowers Foods is outperform, with an average price target of $21.43.
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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Flowers Foods. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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