Boston, MA 03/17/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND) is in the business of packed food and its focus is acquiring, building and energizing brands. The company is currently on a multi-year turnaround journey and this means that every little development – positive or negative – in the company is closely tracked. Thus, we look closely as well into the company’s turnaround efforts to reveal if anything is unfolding in the favorable direction, and if so who else has taken notice of that. However, here first is a recap of the stock performance in the Friday session.
Shares were looking really tasty for investors, increasing 1.34 percent $33.23. The active Friday session saw a significant amount of share changing hands and shares escalating to highs of $33.43 on the day. The lowest recorded price of the stock in the past 12 months is $13.69, while the highest price level over the same period is $33.50.
Encouraging performance
Bearing in mind that Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND) is at the center of a turnaround story, it was encouraging to see that the company’s earnings are improving. In the most recent quarter – fiscal 2014 second quarter – adjusted profit came in at $0.09 per share, better than estimates by $0.01. On year-over-year basis, the number was better by $0.04. Revenue in the quarter was $220.6 million, coming flat to the same quarter revenue a year ago. Yet, even as revenue remained flat year-over-year, it was better than consensus estimate of $216.8 million.
The quarter was helped by strong growth in snacks sales which managed to offset the 10 percent decline in nuts sales. The company was also able to achieve strong gross margin in the quarter due to the change in product mix.
Although CEO Brian Driscoll stated that nuts segment was still clouded in trouble, he expects that innovation in the snacks segment will help keep things up even. But again, this does not suggest that Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND) is resigned to fate as regards troubles in its nuts sales, instead, it is looking into fixing the issue.
Changing sentiments
There is no better way to explain the fact that Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:DMND) is getting it well in its turnaround journey, than looking at the changing analyst sentiments on the stock. Several analysts have recently commented on the stock with upward revision of their ratings and price targets.
