Green Mountain Coffee Roasters: Cautious Ahead Of Report

Green Mountain Coffee RoastersGMCRWhisper number is looking for an EPS of $0.82. The company reported a $0.64 EPS in the same quarter last year. Analysts at SunTrust issued a cautious note to investors on November 19 based on the possibility that the company could potentially release negative data surrounding its K-Cups growth. On November 13, OTR Global, citing Nielson data suggested that the company is losing market share in the single serve coffee market to private label manufacturers. In the 12-week period ending September 28, the company's owned and licensed K-Cups grew 17 percent year over year, compared to 27 percent in the prior 12 week period. Related: OTR Global: Green Mountain Coffee Losing K-Cup Share Separately, analysts at KeyBanc noted on November 15 that the company is not likely losing market share to private labels, a complete contrast to the OTR Global report. Related: KeyBanc Reiterated on Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Low Probability of Losing Shares The analysts at SunTrust are confident that the company can beat its EPS guidance which is a penny higher than the consensus at $0.96. Green Mountain Coffee should also exceed SunTrust's revenue estimate, which is slightly above consensus at $970 million. The Vermont based coffee producer is operating in a favorable environment with seven-year lows in green coffee costs. The company is just starting to fully benefit as it rolls off its six-to-nine-month commodity hedges. As such, the analysts believe the company will maintain its Fiscal 2014 guidance of low-double-digit-top-line and high-teens EPS growth. The analysts also noted that the company is entering its first quarter with difficult comparisons. In the first quarter 2013, the company shipped five million brewers, a difficult number for the company to match given the recent corners raised by OTR Global. SunTrust made no changes to its $80 price target and Neutral rating.