Green Mountain shares tumble in after-hours trading as Q4 Revenue Misses Estimates (GMCR)

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) shares tumbled in after-hours trading today after the company’s fourth-quarter revenue fell well short of Street estimates.

Green Mountain shares were down 30.17% to $46.80 in after-hours trading. Earlier the stock had closed 4.67% lower at $67.02 in regular trading.

Green Mountain, which is engaged in the specialty coffee and coffee maker businesses, reported more than 90% increase in fourth quarter. However, the company’s fourth-quarter revenue of $711.9 million fell well short of consensus estimate of $760.5 million, sparking a huge sell-off in after-hours trading.

The company blamed the weaker than expected revenue on bulk distributors. However, the revenue miss is a huge disappointment for investors as Green Mountain has easily beaten revenue expectations in the previous three quarters. In the previous quarter, the company had reported revenue of $717.2 million, compared with Street estimates of $606.7 million.

Green Mountain’s profit for the fourth quarter also fell short of expectations. On a non-GAAP basis, the coffee maker reported earnings of $75.3 million, or $0.47 per share. Analysts were expecting the company to report fourth-quarter earnings of $0.48 per share. This is the first time in at least nine quarters that the company has missed consensus forecast. In the previous quarter, the company’s earnings were well above Street estimates.

Lawrence Blanford, President and CEO of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, said that while like most consumer product companies, Green Mountain is watchful of broader consumer sentiment going into the holidays, the company remains confident in its growth potential. Blanford reiterated the company’s fiscal year 2012 non-GAAP earnings forecast of $2.55-$2.65 per share.

Analysts currently expect the company to report fiscal 2012 earnings of $2.62 per share. The company expects 2012 sales growth of 60%-65%.

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.