Castle Brands (ROX) Q3 Earnings Break Even, Revenues Grow

Castle Brands Inc.’s (NYSE:ROX) earnings broke even in the third quarter of fiscal 2018, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate and the year-ago figure. This premium branded spirit company delivered improved results, courtesy of its new fill whiskey programs and opportunistic purchases of aged whiskey that led to substantial reserves of aged bourbon and continued strong growth of its Jefferson's brand.

Revenues & EBITDA

The company’s quarterly revenues of $24.1 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $20.5 million. Revenues also improved 31.5% year over year. This upside was driven by solid improvement in the company’s U.S. sales growth of Jefferson's whiskeys, Irish whiskeys and Goslings Stormy Ginger Beer.

The company’s gross profit also increased 26.2% from the prior-year quarter to $9.7 million.

Adjusted EBITDA in the fiscal third quarter jumped 49% year over year to $2.3 million.

First Nine Months of Fiscal 2018 Highlights

The company’s sales in the period rose 20.4% to $65.8 million. Whiskey revenues grew 28.9% buoyed by solid contribution from Jefferson's bourbons and Irish whiskies, and the addition of the Arran scotch whiskey portfolio.

Gosling’s Stormy Ginger Beer case sales surged 34.2% year over year to approximately 1,342,000 cases in the period.

Adjusted EBITDA in the period advanced 61.1% from the year-ago quarter to $5 million. Castle Brands expects the positive trend of increasing sales and improving financial performance to continue over the balance of the fiscal year and beyond.

Stock Price Movement

Shares of Castle Brands have gained 44.6% in a year, outperforming 13.8% growth of the industry. Earnings estimates have remained stable in the last seven days.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Castle Brands has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

A few better-ranked stocks in the industry are The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM) , Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE:STZ) and Brown Forman (NYSE:BFb) Corporation BF.B.

Boston Beer, a Zacks Rank #1 stock, has a solid earnings surprise history, beating the consensus mark in each of the trailing four quarters with an average positive surprise of 63.35%. Its current-year earnings estimates have moved 13.8% upward in the last 60 days.

Constellation Brands, a Zacks Rank # 2 (Buy) company, has an expected earnings growth rate of 26.2% for fiscal 2018.

Brown Forman, also a Zacks Rank #2 stock, is expected to witness 16.3% rise in earnings this year.

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