Funko shares soar after earnings and sales blow past estimates

Funko Inc. shares soared 20.6% after it reported fourth-quarter earnings and sales that blew past expectations. Net income totaled $6.0 million, or 23 cents per share, up from $5.6 million, or 4 cents per share, last year. Adjusted pro forma EPS was 44 cents, exceeding the 34-cent FactSet consensus. Sales for the pop culture consumer products company totaled $233.2 million, up from $169.5 million last year, and well ahead of the $198.0 million FactSet expectation. "In order to better serve our retail customers and our fans, we consciously made in-quarter decisions to better meet the strong demand we saw for our products," said Funko Chief Executive Brian Mariotti in a statement. "Some of these decisions reduced our gross margin, but allowed us to enlarge our market and satisfy better-than-expected demand for our products." Gross margin fell 260 basis points during the quarter to 36.7%. For 2019, Funko expects full-year sales in the range of $810 million to $825 million, well ahead of the FactSet consensus for $739.4 million. Adjusted pro forma EPS is expected to be in the range of $1.05 to $1.15. The FactSet consensus is for 97 cents per share. Funko stock has skyrocketed 169.5% over the last year while the S&P 500 index has gained 2.6% for the period.

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