NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. are bubbling hot. For now.
The company that aims to get people brewing their coffee one cup at a time said late Wednesday that fiscal first-quarter revenue more than doubled to $1.16 billion, and net income surged to $104 million from $2.4 million.
There was plenty of other good news for investors to latch onto as well. The company, which makes Keurig cup coffee brewers and packages the accompanying K-cup coffee grounds, said operating margin shot to 12.6 percent from 4.1 percent on lower general expenses. Operating margin is a ratio measuring how much revenue a company keeps after costs and expenses.
Green Mountain also sold 4.2 million brewers, compared with 6.5 million for the four previous quarters combined. It launched partnerships with Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Swiss Miss and Tazo Tea.
Shares shot up 22 percent in morning trading Thursday, to $65.35 from $53.63. On the same day a year ago, shares closed at $33.25.
And there are hints that the Waterbury, Vt., company's share price could go even higher. Jon Andersen, an analyst at William Blair, says that Green Mountain's stock at $65 is still cheap compared with similar companies.
Still, there are risks of going stale. Stifel Nicolaus analyst Mark Astrachan said he wonders how Green Mountain will be affected when two of its important patents expire in September, and they note that other companies are trying to encroach on the single-serve brewing business.
Green Mountain says its experience and scale will still give it the advantage over competitors.
And memories are still fresh of David Einhorn's scathing October report on Green Mountain, where he said the company's financials weren't transparent and accused it of overspending. Einhorn famously attacked Lehman Brothers right before its collapse. Despite Thursday's rise, shares still haven't come close to where they were in the days before Einhorn's attack, even topping $110 in August. On the day of Einhorn's report, they dropped to $82.50 from $92.09.