Krispy Kreme Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shareholders of delectable doughnut maker Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (NYS: KKD) are feeling glazed today with the stock down as much as 10% after the company reported its fourth-quarter results and provided fiscal 2013 guidance.

So what: For the fourth quarter, excluding one-time gains, Krispy Kreme earned $0.06 on an 11% jump in revenue to $102 million. Sales just squeaked by Wall Street's estimates with EPS matching the consensus. For 2013, Krispy Kreme is forecasting adjusted EPS to be in the range of $0.35 to $0.41, which at least matches the Street's consensus estimate of $0.35. The company noted that rising ingredient costs would force it to cut back on some of its purchases in order to preserve growth.

Now what: To add insult to injury after what I deem a decent report -- because, let's face it, Krispy Kreme's earnings history is about as hit-and-miss as they come -- Stephens downgraded the stock to "equal weight" from "overweight" earlier this morning. I'm not sure if Krispy Kreme will ever overcome the stigma of expanding too quickly and taking on more debt than it could possibly handle. Investors continue to expect miracles from the doughnut maker when they should, in reality, be pleased by these small steps in the right direction.

Craving more input? Start by adding Krispy Kreme to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't 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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