- Limoneira (NASDAQ:LMNR -0.5%) has downgraded its earnings guidance after an "overabundance" as excessive winter rains in Southern California created an oversupply of large fresh lemons in the citrus industry
- The company now expects adjusted EBITDA for 2019 in the range of $7M - $9.5M, down from prior guidance of range of $17M - $22M.
- Adjusted diluted EPS is expected to be $(0.12) to $(0.22), compared to earlier range of the previous earnings range of $0.25 to $0.45.
- Towards the end of the quarter, the large lemon inventory didn't sell as quickly as expected, resulting in lower fresh lemon utilization rates, lower pricing and higher costs than anticipated.
- The orange industry also faced low pricing due to oversupply and large sizing of fruit into Q3.
- Limoneira continues to expect to grow a tree crop of ~ 7.2M domestic lemon cartons.