Winchester, Va.-based American Woodmark (AMWD +1.72%) shares splintered in Tuesday trading, falling more than 6% in response to a fiscal Q2 2014 earnings report that showed the company pulling down better-than-expected revenues, but falling far short on earnings.
Sales in the second fiscal quarter rose 19% to $190.5 million, ahead of estimates, an accomplishment that management attributed primarily to the strength of its new construction sales, which grew 40%. Gross profit margins earned on these revenues also improved 140 basis points year over year, to 16.9%. This was, however, a 200-basis-point decline from Q1's gross profit margin.
Result: Profits per diluted share of $0.34 fell a nickel short of analysts' expected $0.39.
On the bright side, American Woodmark's free cash flow at the half-year mark stands at an even $10 million. Coincidentally, the company noted that it is instituting a share buyback program for just this amount, authorizing the repurchase of $10 million worth of its own common stock. At current share prices, that would amount to about 1.9% of shares outstanding.
