Egg producer Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) swung to a profit of 45 cents per share in the second quarter of 2019, from a loss of 54 cents per share in the year-over period. Excluding one-off items, net income came in at 49 cents per share, edging past analysts’ consensus of 48 cents per share.
Revenue for the quarter fell 1.4% to $356 million, hurt by a decline in volumes and lower average selling prices for conventional eggs. Analysts had on an average expected revenue of $362.92 million.
CALM shares had closed down 0.68% on Thursday. The stock has lost 4% of its value in the trailing 52-weeks period.
CEO Dolph Baker said, “While we experienced volatility in market prices during the quarter, our overall average customer selling price for shell eggs was down only 0.8 percent, compared with the second quarter of fiscal 2018. Per capita egg consumption is up near historical levels, but supply concerns appear to be affecting market prices.”
The company’s performance during the quarter was boosted by strong demand for specialty eggs. Specialty egg prices were up 2.9% compared to the same period a year ago. Specialty egg revenue constituted 35% of our total shell egg revenue, compared with 32.3% a year ago.
During the prior sequential quarter, the company had missed EPS estimate by 23 cents. Revenue of $340.60 million was also below the street expectation of $346.76 million.
Cal-Maine Foods added that it would pay a cash dividend of approx $0.149 per share to holders of its common and Class A common stock during the quarter.