Brown-Forman’s stock dips after Jack Daniel’s parent’s sales fall short of estimates

Brown-Forman Corp. ‘s stock
BF.A,
+0.91%

BF.B,
+0.86%
fell 1.3% early Wednesday, after the parent of Jack Daniel’s whiskey fiscal third-quarter sales fell short of estimates. The Louisville, Ky.-based company posted net income of $285 million, or 60 cents a share, for the quarter to Jan. 31, up from $100 million, or 21 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales fell 1% to $1.069 billion from $1.081 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 56 cents and sales of $1.129 billion. CEO Lawson Whiting said it was a year with “significant uncertainty” in the spirits industry. “As industry trends have normalized, we have expanded our gross margin, executed our strategic priorities, and invested behind the business,” he said in a statement. The company is now expecting fiscal 2024 organic net sales to be flat. Organic sales exclude the impact of foreign currency and acquisitions. It expects organic operating growth in the 0% to 2% range. The stock has fallen 9.7% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500
SPX,
-1.02%
has gained 25%.