United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) Lifted By Upbeat Preliminary Earnings, Upped 2015 Outlook

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNFI)’s stock went up by 6% on Thursday as the organic food distributor released preliminary results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 that were above Wall Street expectations. Furthermore, the firm increased its guidance for the next fiscal year further inducing a positive reaction on the stock. According to United Natural Foods, it expects earnings per share between $0.72 and $0.73 and revenue of $2.060 billion to $2.065 billion for the fourth quarter, about 16.7% to 17.0% higher than delivered in the same quarter last year. This guidance is in line to above the consensus estimates of $0.72 EPS and revenues of $2.05 billion analysts are expecting.

For the full fiscal year, United Natural Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNFI) expects adjusted earnings per share of $2.85 to $2.86 and revenue between $8.18 billion and $8.19 billion, raising its lower bound forecast from the previous $8.15 billion. It should be mentioned, however, that the revised guidance is in line with analyst expectations of $2.86 earnings per share on revenue of $8.19 billion. As for the upcoming 2016 fiscal year, the company said that it expects adjusted EPS in the range of $2.86 to $2.98 on revenues of $8.51 billion to $8.67 billion, bellow earnings estimates of $3.05 per share but in line with the revenue consensus estimate of $8.61 billion. United Natural Foods is expected to report its fourth quarter and full-year results on September 14.

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