Chefs' Warehouse Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Chefs' Warehouse (NAS: CHEF) reported earnings on Feb. 21. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Dec. 28 (Q4), Chefs' Warehouse beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded significantly. Non-GAAP earnings per share shrank. GAAP earnings per share shrank significantly.


Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
 Chefs' Warehouse booked revenue of $142.6 million. The four analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see revenue of $130.2 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 22% higher than the prior-year quarter's $116.5 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 $0.24. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.22 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.24 for Q4 were 7.7% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.26 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.17 for Q4 were 32% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.25 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 25.3%, 130 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 5.5%, 290 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 2.5%, 200 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $132.0 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.14.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $567.2 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.95.

Investor sentiment

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Chefs' Warehouse is buy, with an average price target of $18.75.

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The article Chefs' Warehouse Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines originally appeared on Fool.com.

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. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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