Green Mountain Coffee Earnings: Brews Up Strong Results for Investors

Rising costs hurt Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR) in the fourth quarter as profit dropped from a year earlier. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters operates in the specialty coffee industry in the United States and internationally. It sells approximately 200 whole bean and ground coffee selections, cocoa, teas, and coffees.

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Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Net income for the food items-wholesale climbed to $91.9 million (58 cents per share) vs. $75.4 million (47 cents per share) a year earlier.

Revenue: Rose 33% to $946.7 million from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. reported adjusted net income of 64 cents per share. By that measure, the company beat the mean estimate of 47 cents per share. It beat the average revenue estimate of $873.8 million.

Quoting Management: “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,” said GMCR’s President and CEO, Lawrence J. Blanford. “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.”

Key Stats:

The company has seen double-digit year-over-year percentage revenue growth for the past five quarters. Over that span, the company has averaged growth of 56.8%, with the biggest boost coming in the first quarter when revenue rose more than twofold from the year earlier quarter.

Last quarter’s profit decreases breaks a four-quarter run of profit increases. In the third quarter, net income rose 30.1% from the year earlier, while the figure increased 42.3% in the second quarter, 4584.3% in the first quarter and more than threefold in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

The company has now beaten estimates the last two quarters. In the third quarter, it topped expectations with net income of 52 cents versus a mean estimate of net income of 49 cents per share.

Looking Forward: Analysts appear increasingly negative about the company’s results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the first quarter of the next fiscal year has moved down from 59 cents a share to 58 cents over the last thirty days. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has been unchanged at $2.24 a share.

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(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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