Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Reports Higher Q3 Profit; Lifts Full-Year Forecast (GMCR)

released its fiscal third-quarter earnings results after the closing bell on Wednesday. The company reported earnings per share that topped analysts' estimates, but revenue that missed consensus expectations. Green Mountain also lifted its full-year earnings per share guidance. In late trading, the stock was last down around 6 percent to $74.50.

“We continue to drive leverage in our business and were very pleased to deliver earnings per share growth in the quarter that exceeded our revenue growth by more than five-fold,” said Brian P. Kelley, GMCR's President and CEO. “Free cash flow generation was also strong, bringing our fiscal year-to-date total to $582 million.” “Our total revenue growth of 11% was at the low end of our expectations, driven primarily by a sales decline in Canada. Importantly, our U.S. business is very healthy, growing 14% in the period,” continued Kelley. “Ongoing consumer adoption and continued use of installed Keurig® brewers drove 21% unit growth of our Keurig Brewed® portion pack business during our third fiscal quarter.”

Green Mountain reported net income of $116.3 million or $0.76 per share, compared to $73.3 million or $0.46 per share, in last year's third-quarter. On an adjusted basis, net income was $124.7 million or $0.82 per share. This easily topped analysts' consensus EPS estimates of $0.77. Revenue in the period was up 11 percent to $967.1 million from $869.2 million last year. This missed Wall Street consensus revenue estimates of $981.10 million.

Green Mountain guided for Q4 adjusted EPS of $0.69 to $0.74. This compares to current consensus calling for EPS of $0.72 in the fiscal fourth-quarter. For fiscal 2013, the company raised its EPS guidance to a range of $3.19 to $3.24 compared to its previous forecast of $3.05 to $3.15. Currently, analysts expect Green Mountain to earn $3.18 per share in fiscal 2013. Sales growth is expected to be between 13 percent and 14 percent for the full-year.