What happened
Shares of office furniture maker Herman Miller, Inc. (MLKN -0.24%) popped as much as 16% in early Tuesday trading, before retracing to about a 10.6% gain as of 1:25 p.m. EDT. Ending its fiscal year a bit early relative to the rest of Wall Street, Herman Miller reported fiscal Q4 2018 earnings last night that showed the company beating expectations with a $0.53 per share GAAP profit -- $0.66 when adjusted for one-time items.
So what
For its fiscal fourth quarter ended in June, Herman Miller reported sales of $618 million, up 7% from last year's fourth quarter. Earnings declined $0.02 (4%) to $0.53 GAAP, but "excluding the impact of restructuring expenses and other special charges recognized in the period," management said its earnings would have been $0.66 -- better than last year and better than Wall Street had forecast as well.
Full-year sales grew 4% to $2.4 billion, with the company ending the year with $2.12 per share in profit -- and this time, the number was a bona fide increase even under GAAP accounting standards, up 3% from last year's $2.05 per share profit.
All the numbers lined up right for Herman Miller last year. Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Herman Miller issued new guidance for the first quarter of the new fiscal year 2019. For fiscal Q1, management is projecting sales of $610 million to $630 million, and says that adjusted for accounting changes, this will represent about a 6% year-over-year increase from fiscal Q1 2018 results. Profits are expected to come in between $0.63 and $0.67 per share.
