Snyder's-Lance Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Snyder's-Lance (NAS: LNCE) reported earnings on Feb. 10. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Snyder's-Lance beat expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew significantly and GAAP earnings per share increased.

Gross margins dropped, operating margins improved, net margins grew.

Revenue details
Snyder's-Lance booked revenue of $421.9 million. The nine analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted a top line of $412.3 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 45% higher than the prior-year quarter's $285.1 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.16. The 10 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.23 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS were $0.33 for Q3 against -$0.48 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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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 35.0%, 190 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 8.2%, 350 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 5.4%, 1,220 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $401.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.25.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.63 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.75.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 67 members out of 79 rating the stock outperform, and 12 members rating it underperform. Among 27 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 24 give Snyder's-Lance a green thumbs-up, and three give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Snyder's-Lance is outperform, with an average price target of $23.00.

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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. 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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