What occurred
Shares of residential swimming swimming pools producer Latham Group ( SWIM 11.23% ) have been up 10.3% as of two:40 p.m. ET Thursday, regardless of reporting a large earnings miss this morning.
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2021, analysts had forecast Latham Group would earn $0.06 per share on gross sales of $130.6 million. In reality, the corporate misplaced $0.05 per share ($0.04 per share, adjusted). On the intense aspect, although, gross sales got here in forward of estimates at $138.9 million.
Picture supply: Getty Photos.
So what
Latham grew its quarterly gross sales by a document 24% yr over yr within the fourth quarter, wrapping up a 2021 that marked the corporate’s twelfth consecutive yr of development in web gross sales and adjusted EBITDA, administration mentioned.
That was truly a slowdown for Latham, nonetheless. For the total yr fiscal 2021, gross sales at Latham grew 56% to $630.5 million. It misplaced cash for the yr: $0.56 per share.
Now what
Buyers in Latham do not appear overly involved concerning the losses, nonetheless, so long as Latham retains the gross sales positive factors coming. In that regard, the fourth-quarter slowdown in gross sales may need been regarding however for the truth that administration promised that gross sales will reaccelerate in 2022.
Issuing new steering for the brand new yr, Latham mentioned it expects gross sales to vary from $850 million to as excessive as $880 million. If appropriate, that might work out to as a lot as 40% year-over-year gross sales development. It could even be effectively above the $735 million in gross sales that Wall Road is anticipating. Moreover, administration gave steering for the primary quarter, forecasting $170 million to $180 million in gross sales, versus the $162 million predicted by analysts.
Lengthy story brief: Latham continues to be shedding cash, nevertheless it beat on gross sales within the fourth quarter — and appears prone to carry on beating on gross sales all by 2022, too.
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