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Friday, October 18, 2013

Armanino Reports Earnings, Sets Records

Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF) reported its earnings for the third quarter of 2013 about an hour ago.  Revenues hit $7,389,449 and earnings per share hit 2.8 cents, both all time company records.  This is a great report by the California based maker of Italian foods and sauces.

First of all, the report gives information that makes clear that things at Armanino are getting markedly better.  In the previous two quarters, good reports raised a concern about the trend of international sales at the company.  Now we are being told that international sales had a "strong uptick" near the end of the third quarter.  Management carefully told us that the trend may not hold, but in view of the conservative nature of the Armanino officers, we can be sure that at least during the first few weeks of the fourth quarter that strong uptick has continued.  The company also reported that it will begin selling four new products during the fourth quarter which have already shown good results in test markets.

Second, we also know that Armanino should have a full quarter of its new production facilities operational during the fourth quarter.  We did not get any details in the report on the startup of these facilities, but since they were scheduled for the third quarter, we surely would have heard if there had been any problems.  These new facilities represent a hidden bonus which should positively impact the fourth quarter and the period beyond that.

It is also worth noting that for the first time in recent years, the Armanino results for the third quarter actually beat the earnings for the second quarter by a substantial margin.  This acceleration of earnings is a great sign of more good things to come.

Based upon these results, we are keeping our target price for Armanino at $2.00 but that may soon need to be raised.  Within minutes of the results being announced, the stock traded at $1.80 per share, an all time high, and it will likely continue to rise over the next week on the strength of the good numbers.

DISCLOSURE:  I am long Armanino Foods of Distinction.




 

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