Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) reported earnings on Tue 30 January 2018 (BMO)

** charts after earnings **

Scotts Miracle-Gro misses by $0.15, misses on revs; raises FY18 EPS above consensus following tax reform, lowers FY18 revs below consensus

• Reports Q1 (Dec) loss of $1.08 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.15 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.93); revenues fell 10.3% year/year to $221.5 mln vs the $237.21 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co issuesguidancefor FY18, sees EPS of $4.60-4.80 from $4.15-4.35, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $4.44 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; lowers FY18 revs to +2-4% from +4-6% to ~$2.69-2.75 bln vs. $2.79 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• The company-wide gross margin rates decreased to 15.3 percent from 17.7 percent.
• "The Company also said it expects its effective tax rate to decline to a range of 26 to 27 percent in fiscal 2018, a rate that will likely remain consistent in future years. As a result of the lower rate, the Company increased its Non-GAAP adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $4.60 to $4.80 per share from the previous range of $4.15 to $4.35 per share. In addition, the Company reduced its full-year sales outlook to a range of 2 to 4 percent due to the slow start at Hawthorne but maintained a consistent operating earnings outlook primarily due to tighter SG&A spending."
• "While we view the recent slow down within Hawthorne as temporary, it has continued into the second quarter. We now expect full-year organic sales growth at Hawthorne will be flat assuming a return to normal market conditions in the second half of the year. Our long-term prospects for this business remain unchanged and we continue to see Hawthorne having strong long-term growth."