What happened
Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (FRPT -1.25%) were surging last month after the pet-food maker beat bottom-line expectations in its first-quarter earnings report. According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the stock rose 29% in May.
Image source: Freshpet.
As the chart below shows, the gains came mostly after the company reported earnings in the beginning of the month.
So what
Freshpet stock jumped 10% on May 5 after the earnings report came out, and kept gaining in the following sessions. Freshpet revenue increased 9.7% to $34.5 million in the period, with sales in the core refrigerated category up 12.2%. The total result was short of the consensus at $34.8 million. On the bottom line, the company's loss per share expanded from -$0.05 a year ago to -$0.09, but that was better than estimates at -$0.11.
CEO Billy Cyr called the quarter "a good start to 2017," and said the company's Feed the Growth strategic plan helped drive accelerated revenue growth.
Now what
Looking ahead, management reiterated its guidance of full-year revenue growth of 15%, in line with estimates, but also called for a 10% decrease in Adjusted EBITDA as the company is spending aggressively on advertising in order to boost its sales growth.
Considering that the company's revenue growth has slowed down significantly since its 2014 IPO, that seems like the right thing to do. Even after last month's gain, the stock is only even with its IPO price of $15, indicating it's been a disappointment. However, if management can execute by accelerating revenue growth and gross margin expansion, the stock could continue its comeback.
