Brown-Forman Corp. reported net income and EPS on Aug. 28 for the first fiscal quarter of 2020 that beat Street expectations.
The Jack Daniel's distiller reported that net income decreased 7% year over year to $186 million, for the quarter ended July 31. The S&P Global Market Intelligence mean consensus estimate for net income excluding exceptions was $177.8 million.
Brown-Forman's diluted earnings per share for the first fiscal quarter came in at 39 cents, marking a 6% decrease from the same period a year ago. The Market Intelligence mean consensus estimate for normalized EPS was 37 cents.
Brown-Forman said net sales for the first fiscal quarter were at $766 million, the same amount the company reported in the year-ago period. Analysts had expected the company's revenue to come in at $773.1 million, according to Market Intelligence.
Despite what the company called "growing uncertainty around the global economic and geopolitical environment," Brown-Forman maintained its full-year fiscal 2020 guidance. The company expects diluted EPS for fiscal 2020 to be between $1.75 and $1.85 and underlying net sales growth of 5% to 7%.
"Our first quarter results came in largely as anticipated considering the year-over-year drag from tariffs and timing of customer orders," Brown-Forman President and CEO Lawson Whiting said in a statement.
U.S. whiskey-makers have had to deal with the bitter aftertaste that comes from a potent cocktail of international trade disputes. On Aug. 23, China included a 5% tariff on whiskey beginning Dec. 15 on a list of U.S. imports set to get stamped with additional retaliatory tariffs, according to CNN. In June 2018, the EU imposed retaliatory 25% tariffs on a swath of U.S. products, including bourbon. U.S. duties on steel and aluminum imports have put a strain on Brown-Forman's gross margins.
Shares in Brown-Forman were up by 1.1% to $59.64 in premarket trading Aug. 28. The company reported its earnings before U.S. markets opened.
