It's a good thing for Martek Biosciences
Revenue at Martek, which makes nutritional supplements, was up 13.6% for its third quarter, led by 12% growth in sales of its DHA supplement to baby formula makers all over the world. This segment makes up the lion's share of total revenue -- about 85%. Also, sales of additions to other foods and beverages, like Starbucks'
More impressively, Martek was able to turn that 13.6% increase in the top line into a 47% boost in earnings per share, despite the basic share count increasing 2.3%. Increased activity at the company's manufacturing plants helped push gross margins up 300 basis points to 41.5%. That's quite impressive, but the company thinks it'll be able to squeeze out even more productivity gains next year. There were no restructuring charges or interest expense -- now that Martek has paid off all (or the majority of) its debt -- also helping to boost the bottom-line comparisons.
Considering the strong quarter, Martek raised its full-year guidance and said it now expects revenue to be 14% to 15% better than last year and earnings per share of $1.06 to $1.09. Martek is trading at a premium to competitors GlaxoSmithKline