Scotts Miracle-Gro shares crushed after weak quarter, outlook

Scotts Miracle-Gro

02/08/2023 15:31

** Shares in lawn and garden care co Scotts Miracle-Gro  SMG.N 
tumbling 17.0% on Wednesday on track for biggest one-day pct
drop since March 18, 2020 after fiscal Q3 results fall short and
it forecasts EBITDA, revenue decline 
    ** SMG reported adj EPS of $1.17 vs analyst expectations for
$1.45  on rev of $1.119 bln vs Wall Street consensus of $1.157
bln, according to Refinitiv
    ** SMG forecast full-year adj EBITDA 25% below prior year
and net sales decline of about 10-11% 
    ** SMG CEO Jim Hagedorn cited regional weather extremes,
inflationary pressures and price elasticity as contributing to
declines in retail foot traffic and volume
    ** Hagedorn says "for variety of reasons" lawn business has
not performed to expectations, and with the fall responsible for
up to a third of the lawns business the company is, "investing
in aggressive consumer activation programs" 
    ** Stock last traded down $12.18 at $59.26 after hitting a
low of $58.15
    ** Latest data from Refinitiv shows median price target of
$75, 11 analysts covering SMG with 2 'strong buy,' 4 'buy' and 5
'hold' ratings  
    ** SMG, second biggest drag on the S&P 400 Chemicals index
 .SPMDCPM  on Wednesday was still up 21.6% YTD vs 7.5% gain for
the SPMDCPM

 (Reporting By Sinéad Carew)
 ((sinead.carew@thomsonreuters.com; +13322191897;))