How did NGVC's Q4 2024 earnings surprise investors?

**Natural Grocers' Q4 2024 earnings exceeded investor expectations**, as evidenced by the company's robust financial performance and the subsequent stock market reaction. 1. **Strong Revenue Growth**: Natural Grocers reported a 9.3% increase in net sales for Q4, reaching $322.7 million. This growth was driven by a 7.1% rise in daily average comparable store sales, with a 14% increase on a two-year basis. The company's full-year revenue increased by 8.9% to $1.24 billion. |code|Ticker|Name|Date|Revenue Surprise|EPS Surprise|market_code| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |NGVC|NGVC.N|Natural Grocers|2024 Q1||0.15|169| |NGVC|NGVC.N|Natural Grocers|2024 Q2|9550000|0.05|169| |NGVC|NGVC.N|Natural Grocers|2024 Q3|2650000|0.1|169| |NGVC|NGVC.N|Natural Grocers|2024 Q4|7570000|0.11|169| 2. **Earnings Per Share (EPS) Improvement**: The diluted EPS for Q4 was $0.39, surpassing analyst estimates of $0.28. This marked a significant rise from the previous year, reflecting improved profitability. 3. **Net Income Increase**: Natural Grocers experienced a 53% increase in net income for Q4, reaching $9 million. This was a result of sales and margin improvements combined with effective expense management. 4. **Gross Margin Improvement**: Gross margin improved by 100 basis points in Q4, attributed to store occupancy cost leverage and higher product margins. 5. **Dividend Increase**: The company announced a 20% increase in its quarterly cash dividend to $0.12 per share, reflecting strong financial performance and a commitment to returning capital to shareholders. 6. **Stock Market Reaction**: Despite the earnings beat, Natural Grocers' stock fell by 3.3% following the announcement. This could be attributed to market dynamics or other factors not directly related to the earnings report. In conclusion, Natural Grocers' Q4 2024 earnings exceeded investor expectations, driven by strong revenue growth, improved EPS, increased net income, and gross margin improvement. The dividend increase further supported the positive financial outlook. However, the stock market reaction showed that all factors were not solely positive, indicating that market dynamics play a role in stock performance.