Avocado supplier Mission Produce Inc. (AVO) posted its fiscal second-quarter results after Monday's closing bell, and the numbers left investors feeling a bit sour. The company missed analyst earnings estimates, sending shares down nearly 5% in extended trading.
Mission reported quarterly earnings of one cent per share, well below the analyst consensus estimate of five cents, according to market data. Revenue came in at $290.9 million, beating the consensus estimate of $256.3 million by 13.5%, but that was down from $380.3 million in the same period last year.
CEO John Pawlowski explained the dynamics behind the quarter: "This quarter was shaped by high volumes, low prices, strong execution by our sales and operations teams, and, unfortunately, margin compression concentrated in April." He added, "Despite the low-price environment, we maintained manageable margins through most of the quarter until the Mexican supply of core fruit sizes fell out of line with customer demand in the final weeks."
In other words, Mission had plenty of avocados, but the sizes customers wanted didn't match what was coming from Mexico, squeezing margins at the worst possible time.
Shares of Mission Produce dropped 4.65% to $9.64 in Thursday's extended trading session.
