Lakeland Stumbles on Mixed Earnings

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 4:03PM EST · Published Dec 15, 4:29PM EST

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Lakeland Stumbles on Mixed Earnings — © Thinkstock

Lakeland Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: LAKE) reported its fiscal 2016 third-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Tuesday. The company had $0.29 in earnings per share (EPS) on $24.9 million in revenue, which compared to consensus estimates of $0.26 in EPS on $25.52 million in revenue. The same period from the previous year had $0.26 in EPS.

The fiscal third quarter sales in the United States increased by $1.7 million, or 13%, from the previous year, $1.1 million of which was due primarily to orders for protective apparel related to the company’s response to the U.S. bird flu, while in the fiscal 2015 period Lakeland benefited from Ebola-related sales of an estimated $1.4 million in the U.S. and European businesses.

International revenues totaled $10.2 million or 41% of total sales, versus $10.5 million or 45% of total sales in the prior year.

Christopher J. Ryan, president and CEO of Lakeland, commented on earnings:

We delivered solid improvements across the board for our continuing operations in the third quarter of fiscal 2016, which is a period that is notable for being the closest we’ve had to a normalized quarter in quite a long time. Absent were large one-time charges, significant event-driven sales increases, aside from some increased orders due to the Bird Flu crisis in the US, and financial and capitalization modifications. More evident was the leverage we have in our model and the investments we’ve made to capture greater global market share given our unique operating platform which we believe is a competitive advantage amid persistent industry capacity constraints.

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Free cash flow increased to $3.0 million from $2.2 million last year. On the books, cash and equivalents decreased by $0.8 million sequentially to $4.3 million.

Shares of Lakeland closed Tuesday up 6% at $14.96, with a consensus analyst price target of $19.00 and a 52-week trading range of $7.78 to $15.78. Following the release of the earnings report, shares were initially down 6% at $14.05 in after-hours trading.

About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.