What happened
Shares of Performance Food Group (PFGC -0.90%), a food distributor serving restaurants, businesses, and schools, among many others, rose a quick 13.5% out of the gate on Feb. 9. The news driving the advance was the company's pre-market release of fiscal second-quarter 2022 earnings. Investors liked what they saw.
So what
Sales at Performance Food Group came in at $12.8 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2022, up nearly 88% year over year. That number is a bit complicated, however, because $4.2 billion of the sum is related to the company's acquisition of competitor Core-Mark. That said, price increases and the waning impact of the coronavirus pandemic were also net benefits. The upshot is that the company had a solid quarter on the top line with the Core-Mark purchase adding notably to the business. Sales were in line with analyst expectations.
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Notably, Performance Food Group saw sales increases across all of its major divisions. Food service sales rose 27.2% year over year, Vistar sales were higher by 54.3%, and convenience sales jumped 318.6% (largely thanks to the above noted acquisition). That said, operating expenses increased in each division, too, so the food distributor, like much of the economy, is dealing with the negative impacts of inflation. However, it still managed to post adjusted earnings per share of $0.57, nearly 63% higher than the year-ago period. That was notably better than the $0.50 per share analysts were calling for. Investors tend to like it when companies beat on the top and bottom lines.
Now what
There's actually quite a bit of noise in Performance Food Group's earnings right now. The acquisition of Core-Mark is a company-specific issue that is complicating things, while the recovery from the pandemic demand decline and rising prices are more industrywide things. Still, despite all of that, it looks like the food distributor turned in a solid quarter and investors rewarded it for the success. And it also boosted its guidance for the remainder of the year, too, which is another thing Wall Street likes to see.
