Shares of Brown-Forman Corp. B.F.B,
It fell 4.7% early Wednesday, after the parent company of Jack Daniel’s whiskey reported weaker-than-expected financial earnings in the second quarter and said a difficult operating environment caused it to temper its outlook for the year. The company’s net income was $242 million, or 50 cents per share, during the quarter ended October 31, up from $227 million, or 47 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Sales rose 1% to $1.107 billion. The FactSet consensus was for earnings per share of 51 cents and sales of $1.149 billion. “Although we grew at a slower pace than expected, we achieved strong gross margin expansion and continued to invest aggressively behind our brands,” CEO Lawson Whiting said in a statement. The company now expects full-year organic sales growth of 3% to 5%, down from the 5% to 7% guidance provided with first-quarter earnings. Organic sales eliminate the impact of foreign exchange and acquisitions. “While we remain optimistic about our prospects for organic net sales and organic operating income growth in fiscal 2024, evolving global macroeconomic conditions continue to create a challenging operating environment that tempers our outlook,” the statement said. The stock is down 8.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX,
It has gained 19%.
