Bob Evans Farms Misses Where It Counts

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Bob Evans Farms (NAS: BOBE) reported earnings on Feb. 14. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Jan. 27 (Q3), Bob Evans Farms met expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

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

Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
Bob Evans Farms booked revenue of $407.2 million. The four analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for revenue of $411.3 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 0.1% lower than the prior-year quarter's $428.6 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 $0.47. The six earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.53 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.69 for Q2 were 35% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.51 per share.

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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 100.0%, 6,450 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 7.1%, 100 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 4.7%, 110 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $429.3 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.60.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.67 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.37.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 89 members out of 131 rating the stock outperform, and 42 members rating it underperform. Among 43 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 32 give Bob Evans Farms a green thumbs-up, and 11 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Bob Evans Farms is hold, with an average price target of $36.40.

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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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