General Mills Beats on Revenue, Matches Expectations on EPS
General Mills (NYS: GIS) reported earnings on March 21. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Feb. 26 (Q3), General Mills beat slightly on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.
Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased and GAAP EPS shrank.
Margins contracted across the board.
Revenue details
General Mills recorded revenue of $4.12 billion. The 14 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see net sales of $4.08 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 13% higher than the prior-year quarter's $3.65 billion.
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 $0.55. The 14 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.55 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.58 for Q3 were 1.7% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.59 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 36.6%, 260 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 16.2%, 140 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 9.5%, 130 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.
Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $4.13 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.59.
Next year's average estimate for revenue is $16.73 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.54.
Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,070 members rating the stock outperform and 61 members rating it underperform. Among 305 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 294 give General Mills 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 General Mills is outperform, with an average price target of $41.89.
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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. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.
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