Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR.DL) reported fiscal 2014 second-quarter earnings after the market closed today that beat Wall Street's estimates. For the period ended March 29, Keurig Green Mountain earned a profit of $1.03 per diluted share, which was an increase of 18% from the same period a year ago. It was $0.09 better than analysts' estimates for earnings per share of $0.94 in the quarter. Revenue climbed 10% to $1.1 billion in the period, which also topped the Street's expectations for revenue of $1 billion in the period.
The company said the double-digit sales and earnings growth in the quarter were driven by strong sales of its brewers and portion packs, as well as increased cost-cutting measures. Net sales of portion packs were up 13% year-over-year and net sales of brewers and accessories were up 9%. For the quarter, 1.8 million Keurig system brewers were sold. Cutting costs seems to be paying off for Keurig Green Mountain, because operating profit climbed 23% to $260 million in the quarter.
"At the end of the quarter, our balance sheet was very strong, with $1.1 billion in cash, even after we returned nearly $800 million of cash to shareholders in the quarter in the form of dividends and share repurchases," said Brian Kelley, Keurig Green Mountain's chief executive, in the company press release. Looking ahead, the company is focused on the upcoming launch of its Keurig 2.0 hot system, as well as preparing for the 2015 debut of a Keurig cold system.
The stock popped more than 7% in after-hours trading with shares up to around $98.99 as of 4:40 p.m. Shares of Keurig Green Mountain are up nearly 27% year to date.
