Why Amira Nature Foods Shares Jumped

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: Shares of Amira Nature Foods were looking healthier today, gaining as much as 16% after a strong first-quarter earnings report.

So what: The distributor of Indian specialty foods turned in a per-share profit of $0.21, more than double analyst expectations at $0.10 as revenue jumped 38% to $110.3 million, easily eclipsing the experts' estimate of $98.8 million. CEO Karan Chanana noted "continued strong demand for our products and successful execution of our business strategy," and was optimistic about the current fiscal year. Amira maintained its revenue guidance of $480 million to $507 million for fiscal 2014, in range with estimates, and said it expects EBITDA of $62 million to $66 million.

Now what: Investors may be wondering why Amira didn't lift its guidance after such a strong revenue beat; however, this may simply be conservative guidance, as there are three quarters left in the year. In addition to the strong financial results, the company also reduced its debt load by $20 million in the quarter to $136 million and recently launched its Amira Organic business, which should capitalize on the growing popularity of organic foods. Considering the progress in those areas and the strong beat, I'd expect analysts to lift their estimates for the rest of the year.

The article Why Amira Nature Foods Shares Jumped originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Jeremy Bowman and The Motley Fool have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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