Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $1.39 EPS

Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ:LCUT) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $1.39, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $141.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $136.64 million. Lifetime Brands had a negative net margin of 4.22% and a positive return on equity of 8.01%.

Here are the key takeaways from Lifetime Brands’ conference call:

• Q2 net sales rose 7.4% to $141.6 million, with growth led by warehouse club programs and e-commerce despite soft consumer durable markets and some shipment timing delays.
• The company recorded a $40.1 million IEEPA tariff refund, receiving approximately $36.4 million in cash to date. The benefit drove substantial year-over-year improvement in profitability, including $19.6 million of GAAP net income versus a $39.7 million loss last year.
• Lifetime raised full-year adjusted income and EBITDA guidance to $81.5 million-$84 million and $90.5 million-$93 million, respectively, while maintaining its $650 million-$700 million sales outlook. Management plans to use the refund for taxes, business reinvestment, inflation mitigation and deleveraging.
• The company has repaid $40 million of term debt since the end of the first quarter and is finalizing a refinancing expected to extend maturities to 2031, improve debt structure and reduce annual interest expense.
• The Hagerstown, Maryland distribution-center transition caused labor inefficiencies, higher costs and shipment delays, with a smaller impact expected in Q3 and full operation targeted for Q4. Management cautioned that additional disruption could push one-time start-up costs above prior estimates, while inflation, geopolitical risks and higher ocean freight remain headwinds.

Lifetime Brands Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LCUT traded up $0.61 on Friday, hitting $9.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 109,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 183,990. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Lifetime Brands has a one year low of $2.90 and a one year high of $10.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.80 million, a P/E ratio of -7.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.00.

Lifetime Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $0.0425 dividend. This represents a $0.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Lifetime Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently -13.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lifetime Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in Lifetime Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Lifetime Brands in the third quarter valued at about $118,000. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Lifetime Brands by 388.4% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 51,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 41,191 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Lifetime Brands by 7.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 108,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 7,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in Lifetime Brands by 3.8% during the third quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 243,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 8,820 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Lifetime Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lifetime Brands in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Lifetime Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Roth Capital upped their price objective on shares of Lifetime Brands from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Lifetime Brands from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.50.

Lifetime Brands Company Profile

Lifetime Brands, Inc, through its subsidiaries, designs, sources, manufactures and distributes a broad portfolio of consumer products for the home. Headquartered in Garden City, New York, the company operates three primary business segments—Kitchenware, Tabletop & Home Décor and Tools & Storage—providing solutions for food preparation, cooking, serving and storage under both proprietary and licensed brand names.

In the Kitchenware segment, Lifetime Brands offers cookware, bakeware, cutlery and small electric appliances under brands such as Farberware and Chef’sChoice.