Helen of Troy Tops Wall Street Estimates; Stock Climbs 2% (HELE)

, a Bermuda-based designer, developer, importer and distributor of brand-name consumer products, released its fiscal first-quarter financial results after the closing bell on Tuesday. The company's net profit fell after one-time charges, but its adjusted earnings rose and came in ahead of Wall Street expectations. Top-line sales also beat analysts' consensus estimates. In the after-hours, the shares were last up around 2.38 percent to $43.00. During regular trading, Helen of Troy added more than 2 percent to close at $42.00. Year-to-date, the stock had climbed almost 26 percent as of Tuesday's close.

Helen of Troy's Chairman, CEO, and President Gerald Rubin said, “We are off to a solid start in fiscal year 2014. Growth in our Housewares and Healthcare/Home Environment segments led to a net sales revenue increase for the Company, and we managed expenses well to deliver a 6.5% increase in adjusted EBITDA (EBITDA without non-cash asset impairment charges and non-cash share-based compensation) and a 10.8% increase in adjusted diluted EPS (diluted earnings per share without non-cash asset impairment charges)." Rubin added, "We continue to focus on innovation and are excited about our upcoming product launches in the baking and food storage categories in our Housewares segment and in the water filtration portion of our Healthcare/Home Environment segment. Our balance sheet remains strong and provides us with excellent flexibility to pursue our growth strategies. We remain comfortable with our outlook and in our ability to deliver on the objectives we have set for ourselves this year.”

The company reported net income for the fiscal first-quarter of $14.4 million or $0.45 per share, compared to $23.5 million or $0.74 per share, in last year's corresponding period. Impairment charges equaled $12.05 million related to trademarks in the company's personal care business. On an adjusted basis, which is comparable to analysts' consensus, Helen of Troy reported net income of $26.4 million or $0.82 per share. This easily topped Wall Street consensus earnings per share estimates of $0.71. Revenue for the period was up 1.4 percent to $304.5 million from $300.2 million last year. This also came in ahead of consensus estimates calling for sales of $301.50 million. Gross margin in the first-quarter fell to 39.5 percent from 40.4 percent a year ago.

For fiscal 2014, Helen of Troy sees EPS of $3.13 to $3.23. This includes asset impairment charges of $0.37 per share. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to be between $3.50 and $3.60 on revenue of $1.29 billion to $1.32 billion. Currently, analysts have consensus EPS estimates of $3.53 on revenue of $1.30 billion for the full-year. Therefore, the company's current EPS and revenue guidance range for fiscal 2014 is at the high-end versus current consensus, which could be a positive catalyst for the stock price on Wednesday.