FX.co ★ Flowers Q3 Profit Beats Estimates; Narrows Full-year Outlook

Flowers Foods, Inc. (FLO), a leading producer of packaged bakery foods, announced a net income of $64.98 million, or $0.31 per share, for the third quarter, in stark contrast to a net loss of $46.73 million, or $0.22 per share, in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. This improvement was primarily driven by a reduction in legal settlements and associated costs. Additionally, the company tightened its full-year financial forecast.

Adjusting for one-time events, the company reported an increase in its adjusted net income per share to $0.33, up from $0.29 the previous year.

Operating income stood at $90.18 million, a significant recovery from the prior year's operational loss of $59.35 million.

Quarterly sales saw a slight decrease, falling 0.7% to $1.191 billion from $1.199 billion in the prior year.

The average expectation of eight analysts predicted earnings of $0.29 per share on a revenue of $1.2 billion for the quarter. Typically, these analyst predictions exclude extraordinary items.

Looking ahead to the full year, Flowers Foods has revised its expectations for adjusted earnings per share (EPS) to approximately $1.24 to $1.28, compared to its previous forecast of about $1.20 to $1.30. Annual sales are now projected to be between $5.116 billion and $5.147 billion, a slight revision from the previously guided range of $5.091 billion to $5.172 billion.

Flowers Foods forecasts an annual profit of $1.25 per share, with revenues reaching $5.14 billion.