Newell Brands Inc. NWLreported mixed first-quarter 2018 results wherein the company’s bottom line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate while the top line marginally lagged the same. While this marked the company’s second straight earnings beat, sales however, delivered a negative surprise after surpassing expectations in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Further, management retained its 2018 view.This Hoboken, NJ-based company posted normalized earnings of 34 cents per share, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 26 cents but remained flat year over year. The bottom line gained from cost savings, favorable pricing, gains from acquisitions and a lower tax rate, compensated with the lost earnings from divested operations, fall in core sales and commodity cost inflation.
On a reported basis, earnings per share came in at 11 cents compared with $1.31 earned in the year-ago quarter.