April 2, 2013

Cal-Maine's Q3 sales up 19% to US$360.4 million

Cal-Maine Food's third quarter earnings rose 17% to US$1.27 per share, falling short of estimates of US$1.40, while sales climbed 19% to US$360.4 million, above estimates of US$321.4 million.

Shares were up at the open, but gave back much of their gain by midday on the stock market today.

Specialty egg sales have steadily increased throughout this fiscal year and accounted for nearly 17% of eggs sold by the dozen. But higher feed costs weighted on Cal-Maine's outlook.

"Our feed costs have experienced significant price increases during fiscal 2013 and the higher input costs have continued to adversely affect our gross profit margins," CEO Dolph Baker said in a release.

"Looking ahead, we expect the extremely tight national corn supply will continue to be a concern through the summer months and keep pressure on our feed costs."

Cal-Maine's Food-Meat Products group is ranked No. 17 out of the 197 industry groups IBD tracks.