Shares Of Boulder Brands Collapse To New 52-Week Lows On Poor Outlook

Boulder Brands Inc (NASDAQ: BDBD) reported preliminary third quarter results on Wednesday morning, resulting in shares plunging more than 30 percent to new 52-week lows of $8.72.

The company's announcement comes just one day after Mario Gabelli disclosed a 50 percent increase in his activist stake, now owning approximately 7.4 percent of the company's outstanding shares.

Boulder Brands expects third quarter net sales to be $133.9 million, an increase of 13 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter is expected to be $21 million. The company expects its GAAP diluted loss per share to be $2.12 after giving effect to certain impairment charges. Excluding certain items, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share is expected to be $0.08, falling below the company's prior guidance of $0.10 to $0.12.

The company also revised its fourth quarter earnings per share guidance to the downside.

Boulder Brands expects fourth quarter net sales to be in a range of $132 million to $137 million, with an adjusted EBITDA of $18 million to $20 million. Non-GAAP diluted earnings for the quarter are now expected to be $0.04 to $0.06, lower than prior guidance of $0.18 to $0.20.

In addition to a revised earnings per share guidance, the company said that it now anticipates a non-cash goodwill and trade name impairment charges aggregating $147.50 million, of which a significant portion will not be tax deductible.

"While we are disappointed with our results, consumption is in line with our guidance and tracking ahead of sales, which is a positive indicator for the health of our business,” Stephen Hughes, Boulder Brands Chief Executive Officer said in the press release. "We expect consumption in the fourth quarter to be in line with the third quarter, but are expecting lower shipments due to a normalizing of certain inventories at our largest customer. We look forward to detailing our strategy and outlook for the fourth quarter and 2015 on our upcoming earnings call."

Shares have slightly recovered, trading recently at $9.93, down 22 percent from Tuesday's close.