Cott Earnings: Here’s Why Shares are Up Now

Cott Corporation (NYSE:COT) delivered a profit and missed Wall Street’s expectations, AND came up short on beating the revenue expectation. The revenue miss is a negative sign to shareholders seeking high growth out of the company. Shares are up 1%.

Cott Corporation Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Adjusted Earnings Per Share increased to $0.02 in the quarter versus EPS of $-0.05 in the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Decreased 5.86% to $517 million from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Cott Corporation reported adjusted EPS income of $0.02 per share. By that measure, the company missed the mean analyst estimate of $0.06. It missed the average revenue estimate of $540.67 million.

Quoting Management: Jerry Fowden, Cott’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “The third quarter saw an increase in Adjusted EBITDA and higher gross margin of 140 basis points. I’m pleased with our gross margin restoration strategy’s progress and our consistent cash generation, which coupled with our view of the future, allows me to take pleasure in announcing a dividend to be paid later in 2012.”

Key Stats (on next page)…