Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR)’s financial performance for the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year beat Wall Street expectations. The company posted $91.9 million net income or 58 cents per share, higher than the 48 cents per share consensus estimate by analysts, according to data from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company’s fourth quarter net income is 22 percent higher than its $75.4 million or 47 cents per share net income during the same period last year.
Based on the financial statement of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR), the company reported $946.7 million revenue, 33 percent higher than the $711.9 million posted during the same quarter a year ago. The average consensus estimate of analysts for Green Mountain’s revenue was $902.7 million.
The revenue of the specialty coffee and coffee maker company increased due to stronger sales and price increases for its single-coffee products. Green Mountain’s revenue from single-serve coffee packs was $700.2 million.
Its operating income (GAAP) was $143.7 million, 35 percent higher than the $106 million operating income reported last year.
In a statement, Lawrence J. Blanford, president and CEO of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR) said, “Our fourth quarter fiscal year 2012 revenue and earnings growth speaks to GMCR’s continued strategic progress and we believe points to the significant opportunity still ahead for the company. We continue to drive awareness of Keurig single cup brewing and consumers continue to embrace and adopt Keurig brewers and Keurig Brewed beverages as an integral part of their daily routine.”
In addition, Blanford said the company remains committed in bringing fresh ideas, pushing forward disruptive technologies, and capturing true innovation in products that delight consumers. Furthermore, he emphasized that Green Mountain remain focused in driving its sales and earnings in line with the company’s long-term outlook and it will continue to allocate its capital wisely to balance its profitability, cash flow, and investment.
Looking forward, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR) expects to achieve non-GAAP earnings per diluted share of 62 cents to 67 cents for the first quarter of 2013 while its full-year 2012 outlook is around $2.64 to $2.74 per share on an adjusted basis. The company expects its 1Q 2013 sales to increase by 14 percent to 18 percent from its revenue during the same period of the previous year.
The shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR) climbed by more than 25 percent to $36.30 per share on Wednesday morning (10:24 ET), November 28, 2012.
Analysts from Stifel Nicolaus said they were constructive on the shares of GMCR and increased their EPS estimates for FY2013 and FY2014 to $2.49 and $2.47, respectively due to lower coffee costs, less K-cup competitions, and lower share count.
However, Stifel Nicolaus analysts, Mark Astrachan and Edward McPike maintained their “sell” rating on the GMCR stock. They believe that GMCR “shares at $36 per share, 15x F2014E EPS, trade above a mid $20s fair value estimate given slowing sales growth and company guidance implying declining EPS, absent favorable coffee costs and share repurchase.”
According to Astrachan and McPike, the long-term concerns for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR) remain, including peaking household penetration of K-Cup brewers, increasing competition and promotional activity on K-Cups as well as the continuing loss for the company’s wholly-owned brands.
