LMNR - What Investors Should Know Before Limoneira's Q4 Earnings Report
Citrus agribusiness Limoneira (NASDAQ: LMNR) plans to release its fiscal fourth-quarter 2019 earnings on Jan. 10, and management is probably more than ready to close the books on the year and look ahead to 2020. In 2019, abundant rains affected the size and market pricing of the company's lemons, dampening quarterly earnings. As a result, Limoneira's stock has traced a volatile and ultimately unrewarding trajectory: While the small-cap bellwether Russell 2000 index has gained nearly 24% in 2019, Limoneira shares have slipped 2% year-to-date. Let's review what investors will need to know before the company's upcoming report.
On Dec. 18, Limoneira released a business update that included its fourth guidance revision in as many quarters. The company raised its adjusted net loss per share outlook for fiscal 2019, which ended Oct. 31, to the $0.44 to $0.48 range, up from the net loss of $0.12 to $0.22 it had forecast in September.
While the earlier loss projections were primarily the result of rain-impacted harvests, the updated figures were influenced by a number of new factors. These include delayed domestic shipments of lemons due to power outages in California, delayed shipments and lower market pricing for the company's domestic wine grape harvest, and lower-than-expected pricing realized on lemons shipped FOB ("free on board") from Chile.