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Whole Foods Market Fourth Quarter Earnings
Whole Foods Market (Nasdaq:WFM) announced its results for the fourth quarter on November 7, 2012. Whole Foods Market owns and operates a chain of natural and organic foods supermarkets. Its products include seafood, grocery, meat and poultry, bakery and prepared foods.
Investors care about earnings because they drive stock prices. Strong earnings generally result in the stock price moving up and vice versa. SEE: Earnings: Quality Means Everything
The Numbers: Though Whole Foods Market's EPS fell short of estimates, the company's revenues managed to trump predictions. The company reported adjusted net income of 56 cents per share versus the 60 cents per share estimate and revenues of $2.91 billion versus the $2.73 billion estimate. Revenue climbed 23.6% from the same period last year. Whole Foods Market has averaged revenue growth of 15.2% over the past five quarters. The company's net income for the quarter was $112.7 million. According to the reported number, this is up 49.4% from last year's figures. Last quarter marked the third in a row of rising net income.
Management Quote: "We ended the year with strong sales growth and record fourth quarter results, delivering the best year in our Company's 32-year history," said John Mackey, co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Whole Foods Market. "The pace of new store openings and lease signings continues to increase, and our accelerated growth plans are on track. We expect healthy comparable store sales growth and continuing operating margin improvement in fiscal year 2013."
A Look Back: Net income has increased 35.4% year-over-year on average across the last five quarters. The biggest gain came in the most recent quarter, when income climbed 49.4% from the year-earlier quarter.
Looking Ahead: Analysts appear increasingly optimistic about the company's results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the first quarter of the next fiscal year has moved up from 77 cents a share to 78 cents over the last seven days. When analyst increase earnings estimates investors can assume business has been stronger than first thought and is an encouraging sign for investors. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has been unchanged at $2.52 a share.
Investors care about earnings because they drive stock prices. Strong earnings generally result in the stock price moving up and vice versa. SEE: Earnings: Quality Means Everything
The Numbers: Though Whole Foods Market's EPS fell short of estimates, the company's revenues managed to trump predictions. The company reported adjusted net income of 56 cents per share versus the 60 cents per share estimate and revenues of $2.91 billion versus the $2.73 billion estimate. Revenue climbed 23.6% from the same period last year. Whole Foods Market has averaged revenue growth of 15.2% over the past five quarters. The company's net income for the quarter was $112.7 million. According to the reported number, this is up 49.4% from last year's figures. Last quarter marked the third in a row of rising net income.
Management Quote: "We ended the year with strong sales growth and record fourth quarter results, delivering the best year in our Company's 32-year history," said John Mackey, co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Whole Foods Market. "The pace of new store openings and lease signings continues to increase, and our accelerated growth plans are on track. We expect healthy comparable store sales growth and continuing operating margin improvement in fiscal year 2013."
A Look Back: Net income has increased 35.4% year-over-year on average across the last five quarters. The biggest gain came in the most recent quarter, when income climbed 49.4% from the year-earlier quarter.
Looking Ahead: Analysts appear increasingly optimistic about the company's results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the first quarter of the next fiscal year has moved up from 77 cents a share to 78 cents over the last seven days. When analyst increase earnings estimates investors can assume business has been stronger than first thought and is an encouraging sign for investors. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has been unchanged at $2.52 a share.
by
Investopedia Staff
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