Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR.DL) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter and full-year earnings after the bell on Wednesday. The specialty coffee company posted a profit of $0.83 per share for its fourth quarter, which was markedly higher than analyst estimates for earnings per share of $0.75 in the period. Revenue also topped expectations coming in at a cool $1 billion. The Street was looking for quarterly revenue of $964.5 million.
For fiscal 2013, Green Mountain delivered a full-year profit of $3.16 per share on revenue of $4.4 billion. That represents 16% annual revenue growth from the year-ago period. Additionally, the company continued to see strong sales of its K-Cups, with revenue from portion packs climbing 18% year over year. Along with its quarterly results, Green Mountain declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share and approved up to $1 billion in share repurchases over the next two years.
Known for its Keurig brewing system, Green Mountain's stock is up more than 48% year to date. However, the future may still be challenging for the company as competition heats up in the single-serve market. If you remember, Green Mountain said goodbye to some key patents on its popular K-Cup technology last year. As a result, grocery store chains are increasingly entering the market with their own private-label single-serve pods. This could significantly erode Green Mountain's market share going forward.
