Vista Outdoor, the parent company of numerous outdoor, firearms and hunting brands, saw its stock fall by 22.5 percent Thursday morning after it released a disappointing earnings report. The stock rebounded a little in the afternoon, but was still down 20 percent at the end of the day’s trading.
Vista, based in Farmington, Utah, said Thursday morning that its sales were $654 million in its most recent quarter, up 10 percent from the same period a year ago, when sales were $592.5 million. But that number included $92 million in sales from companies Vista recently bought, including Camp Chef, which is a Utah-based maker of grills and the like. Take away those new companies and sales were down 5 percent from this time last year.
Gross profit was $169 million, relatively flat compared with the prior-year quarter, Vista said. This includes $24 million of gross profit from the recent acquisitions. Once again, take that away and Vista faced a 14 percent decrease in organic gross profit.
Vista also lowered expectations for the rest of its fiscal year, indicating it doesn’t expect the numbers to turn around quickly. Managers also warned investors that Vista will have to spend more on promotions and advertising to move product, which could hurt the bottom line.
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