Shares of Monterey Pasta
Monterey blamed its earnings trouble on legal fees and increases in freight, utility, and raw materials costs. But sales weakness has hurt, too. (We've discussed Monterey's efforts to recapture revenue lost to carb counters by introducing new products.) One of the company's main customers, Costco
Wal-Mart's
Monterey is not a tiny company -- it managed some $60 million in sales last year. Still, with a market cap hovering around $50 million, it's hardly huge. Given that, management perhaps deserves credit for showing impressive flexibility while adapting well to changing business conditions in a short time. That hasn't been reflected in the company's share price, but if Monterey can restart growth in 2004, it may yet be.
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Fool contributor Dave Marino-Nachison dreamed about pasta last night, but he doesn't own any of the companies in this story.