SunOpta Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

SunOpta (NAS: STKL) reported earnings on March 5. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Dec. 29 (Q4), SunOpta beat expectations on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

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


Gross margins shrank, operating margins expanded, net margins increased.

Revenue details
 SunOpta logged revenue of $270.1 million. The six analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for net sales of $263.5 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter's.

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 $0.08. The nine earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.09 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.08 for Q4 were 14% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.07 per share. (The prior-year quarter included -$0.05 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.) GAAP EPS were $0.06 for Q4 versus -$0.12 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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 10.7%, 70 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 2.5%, 50 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 1.6%, 450 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $283.4 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.11.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.17 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.47.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a one-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 226 members out of 328 rating the stock outperform, and 102 members rating it underperform. Among 82 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 32 give SunOpta a green thumbs-up, and 50 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on SunOpta is outperform, with an average price target of $8.31.

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The article SunOpta Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings 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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