Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD) shares fell more than 12% in after-hours trading Thursday despite reporting fiscal Q2 2014 earnings that beat analyst estimates on the top line but fell short on profits.
Krispy Kreme reported net profits of $0.07 per share ($0.14 per share "adjusted"), flat against the year-ago net. Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.16 per share. Same-store sales and overall revenues at the company grew 10%, with revenues of $112.7 million beating Street expectations for $111.5 million.
CEO James H. Morgan said Q2 was "an outstanding quarter for us, and results exceeded our expectations, despite unusual items that in the aggregate negatively affected our earnings by about $0.01 per adjusted share." Investors, however, appear to be taking the earnings miss more seriously, and may also have been disappointed that Krispy Kreme was unable to raise profit guidance for the full year.
Morgan reaffirmed guidance for per-share earnings of $0.59 to $0.63 per diluted share, and noted that "year-over-year growth in adjusted earnings per share approaching or exceeding 30%" and "attaining the high end of our forecasted earnings guidance" both appear "increasingly achievable."
