Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) Tops Q3 EPS by 59c, Acquires Hawthorne Gardening Company; Maintains Outlook

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG) reported Q3 EPS of $3.98, $0.59 better than the analyst estimate of $3.39. Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.61 billion versus the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion.

Separately, the Company announced a further strengthening of the Hawthorne Gardening Company portfolio with the acquisition of HydroLogic Purification Systems, a leading provider of products, accessories and systems for water filtration and purification. HydroLogic will add approximately $20 million in annualized sales.

The Company maintained its guidance of 17 to 19 percent sales growth with the U.S. Consumer segment expected to grow 7 to 9 percent in fiscal 2021 and Hawthorne sales expected to increase 40 to 45 percent. Guidance for non-GAAP adjusted earnings per share was also reaffirmed in a range of $9.00 to $9.30. The gross margin rate is now expected to decline 250 to 275 basis points, with SG&A expected to be flat to slightly down on a full-year basis.

“The continued pressure from commodity prices is likely to result in a lower gross margin rate than we expected when we last updated our guidance in June,” said Cory Miller, senior vice president and interim chief financial officer. “However, we’re finding offsets to that pressure that are allowing us to maintain our earnings guidance on a full-year basis.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) click here.

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