Credit Suisse Sees Good 2Q Beat Despite U.K. Challenges For Diamond Foods

In a report published Friday, Credit Suisse analyst Robert Moskow reiterated an Outperform rating and $32.00 price target on

. In the report, Credit Suisse noted, "Diamond Foods reported a stronger than expected 2Q with EPS of $0.35 vs. our estimate of $0.29 and raised the bottom end of its guidance range by $0.05 to $0.95 to $1.10. Adjusted EBITDA of $33.8M beat our estimate by $3M with the help of a $1.4M adjustment to walnut input price assumptions for the year. Sales growth of 4% was a bit below our forecast of 6% because competitive challenges in the UK got tougher and the company lost $3M of sales as a result of the west coast port slowdowns and F/X pressure. North American Kettle and Pop Secret sales growth surprised on the upside, however, with Kettle up 7.8% and Pop Secret up 1 share point despite competitive promotional pressure. Price realization on almonds improved in the quarter as well." Diamond Foods closed on Thursday at $27.48.