Mosaic Earnings EXCEED Estimates, Investors CHEER Shares

Mosaic Company The (NYSE:MOS) reported its results for the fourth quarter. The Mosaic Company is a producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients for the global agriculture industry.

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Mosaic Company The Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Net income for the fertilizers fell to $507.3 million ($1.19 per share) vs. $649.2 million ($1.45 per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 21.9% from the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Fell 1.4% to $2.82 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Mosaic Company The beat the mean analyst estimate of $1.17 per share. It beat the average revenue estimate of $2.54 billion.

Quoting Management: “We completed a fiscal year of significant accomplishments with a strong fourth quarter,” said Jim Prokopanko, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mosaic.”The extended spring season in North America, along with continuing strong demand for our products in Central and South America, led to solid financial results for the quarter. Despite challenging market conditions for much of the fiscal year, Mosaic made great progress. We improved our operating efficiency in both Potash and Phosphates, made substantial headway on our potash expansion projects, set new records for premium product sales and cash from operations, and, most important, our people delivered our best safety performance ever.”

Key Stats:

The company’s net income has now fallen for three straight quarters. In the third quarter, net income fell 49.6% from the year earlier, while the figure fell 39.2% in the second quarter.

The company topped expectations last quarter after falling short of forecasts in the third quarter with net income of 72 cents versus a mean estimate of net income of 76 cents per share.

Revenue has dropped in the past two quarters. In the third quarter, revenue declined 1.1% to $2.19 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Looking Forward: The outlook for the company’s results in the upcoming quarter is unfavorable. The average estimate for the first quarter of the next fiscal year is $1.19 per share, down from $1.26 ninety days ago. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has moved up from $4.37 a share to $4.46 over the last ninety days.

Competitors to Watch: Potash Corp./Saskatchewan, Agrium Inc., CF Industries Hldgs., Inc., Intrepid Potash, Inc., Earth Sciences, Inc., Converted Organics Inc., and Lifosa AB.

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

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