WhiteWave Foods (WWAV) reported fiscal 2014 first-quarter earnings results before the market opened today that blew past Wall Street's expectations. For the period ended March 31, WhiteWave Foods generated adjusted earnings of $0.22 per diluted share, up 20% from the same period a year ago. That was $0.02 better than analysts' estimates for earnings per share of just $0.20 in the quarter. Revenue surged 36% to $830 million in the first quarter, up from net sales of $608 million in the year-ago period. That was significantly better than analyst estimates for quarterly revenue of $789.3 million in the quarter.
"The strength of our results reflects impressive organic growth across our historical businesses, plus the strategic addition of Earthbound Farm to our portfolio," said Gregg Engles, WhiteWave Foods chief executive. WhiteWave Foods said the results were driven by strong volume growth across all of its brands in the first quarter. Management raised its outlook for the full year because of these strong results.
Looking ahead, WhiteWave Foods now expects net revenue growth in the low 30% range for both the full year and its fiscal second quarter. Additionally, WhiteWave Foods now expects adjusted earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.95 and $0.98 for the full year. Shares of WhiteWave Foods are currently up 16% year to date.
