Sodastream Posts Upbeat Q1 Earnings, But Sales Miss Views

Sodastream International Ltd (NASDAQ: SODA) 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.