Stock Market Watch

Nutrisystem (NTRI) Down after Lowering Outlook

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Shares of Nutrisystem, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRI) are down over 11% in morning trade after the company lowered its first quarter and full year profit outlook. The company said that for its first quarter it expected to loose 5 to 10 cent per share while analysts expected the company to make 10 cents per share in profits. For the full year, the company expects a profit of 45 to 55 cents per share. This is well below analyst estimates of 92 cents per share.

Nutrisystem (NTRI) announced that it lost four cents per share in its fiscal fourth quarter, worse than analyst estimates of two cents per share. Revenue dropped to $66.9 million from $87.9 million a year ago. Analysts had expected revenue of $64.4 million.

For the full year 2011, revenues were $401.3 million, compared to $509.5 million in 2010. Earnings per diluted share was $0.43, compared to $1.12 per diluted share in 2010. Earnings per diluted share was $0.43, compared to $1.12 per diluted share in 2010.


Joe Redling, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, “While our financial performance was disappointing in 2011, I’m proud of how the Nutrisystem (NTRI) team pulled together to improve execution in the tough, competitive and economic environment. We creatively used promotions throughout the year to energize consumer response and conversion.”

“We carefully controlled costs all throughout the business, with reductions in general and administrative and marketing expenses. We reinvested in new products, new sales channels, new celebrity spokespersons, and new advertising and public relations strategies to return to growth in 2012. The net result was Nutrisystem (NTRI)  remained profitable for the year with a solid bottom line, and generated significant cash flow to return cash to shareholders while still investing in growth initiatives for the future.”

David Clark, Chief Financial Officer added, “As expected, our balance sheet strengthened in 2011 as we ended the year with $57.6 million of cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities and only $30 million of outstanding debt under our recently renewed $100 million revolving credit facility. We expect 2012 to be another year of solid cash flow, with positive adjusted EBITDA. Due to the strength of our liquidity position, our Board of Directors authorized a quarterly dividend of 17.5 cents per share.”

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edliston
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.


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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.

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