Sodastream Posts Upbeat Q1 Earnings, But Sales Miss Views

reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the first quarter, but the company's sales missed analysts' estimates. The Airport City, Israel-based company posted quarterly net income of $6.05 million, or $0.29 per share, compared to $1.78 million, or $0.08 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding items, the company earned $0.40 per share. Its adjusted revenue climbed to $90.3 million from $118.2 million. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.03 per share on revenue of $100.94 million. The average estimate among 17 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.10 per share and revenue of $104.80 million. Adjusted operating income climbed to $3.7 million from $2.3 million, while adjusted EBITDA surged to $7.6 million from $6.5 million. Sales and marketing expenses slipped to $32.5 million for the first quarter, from $46.1 million in the year-ago quarter. At March 31, 2015, the company had $40.6 million in cash and cash equivalents, versus $46.9 million at December 31, 2014. Inventories dropped by 4.4 percent to $132.3 million at March 31, 2015, versus $138.4 million at December 31, 2014. "The implementation of the restructuring and growth plan we announced in October 2014 is progressing as planned. The first quarter marked the start of a transitional period as we embarked on our global brand and product repositioning around health & wellness," said Daniel Birnbaum, Chief Executive Officer of SodaStream. "We've made good progress preparing for the launch of a completely new portfolio of great tasting, better for you sparkling water flavors later this year that we believe will resonate strongly with our consumer audience." Sodastream shares gained 2.93 percent to $19.67 in the after-hours trading session.