Middleby Clocks 29% Sales Growth In Q3, Misses On Estimates - Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD)

Middleby Corp MIDD reported third-quarter sales growth of 28.8% year-over-year to $817.55 million, +22.4 on an organic basis, missing the consensus of $825.88 million.
Sales by segments: Commercial Foodservice $511.48 million (+37.8% Y/Y), Residential Kitchen $193.39 million (+26.7% Y/Y) and Food Processing $112.67 million (+1.8% Y/Y).
Adjusted EPS improved to $1.92 from $1.34 in 3Q20, missing the consensus of $2.00.
The gross margin expanded by 154 bps to 36.7%. The operating income increased to $233.48 million from $86.67 million, and the margin expanded by 1,490 bps to 28.6%.
Segment Adjusted EBITDA was $172.17 million, compared to $126.5 million in 3Q20, and margin expanded by 120 bps to 21.1%.
The company's cash balances at Q3 end were $251.1 million, and net debt amounted to $1.6 billion.
Middleby generated cash from operating activities year-to-date of $346.04 million, compared to $316.82 million a year ago. Free cash flow of $322.37 million.
The total backlog at Q3 end was $1.2 billion versus $522.7 million at the end of fiscal 2020. The increase was driven by order growth, primarily at the Commercial Foodservice Group and Residential Kitchen Group.
"We have been proactive about adjusting prices in the past several months to our customers, to address the significant cost pressures we have experienced during the third quarter that are pressuring margins. The timing from the benefit of these increases is longer than ordinary given our record backlog, but we should begin seeing this impact in the fourth quarter," said CEO Tim FitzGerald.
Price Action: MIDD shares are trading higher by 1.68% at $191.61 on the last check Tuesday.

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs