United Natural Foods Issues Inline Q3 Results, FY Outlook Narrowed

Shares of United Natural Foods, Inc.

at one point plummeted to as low as $65.61 in Tuesday's post-market trading session after the organic- and specialty-food distributor released its third-quarter earnings report. The company posted earnings per share of $0.73, inline with analyst estimates. The figure was up 14 percent on a year-over-year basis. Revenue also jumped a cool 13 percent to $1.78 billion, also inline with estimates. “Each of our sales channels continued to benefit from consumers increasingly choosing better-for-you natural, organic and specialty foods as illustrated by our second consecutive quarter of net sales growth in excess of $200 million,” said Steven Spinner, President and Chief Executive Officer. "To support these positive growth dynamics and enhance service levels to our customers, in the fourth quarter, we opened our distribution center in Racine, Wisconsin and we are scheduled to open our Hudson Valley, New York facility in the first quarter of fiscal 2015." One interesting portion of the report was United Natural's narrowed guidance. The company now expects its full-year 2014 earnings per share to be $2.47 to $2.50, revised from $2.45 to $2.51 previously. United Natural's revenue guidance moved from $6.70-$6.78 billion to $6.73-$6.77 billion. United Natural Foods shares last traded at $67 even, down about two percent from Tuesday's close.