Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ: HELE) stock fell 12.83% on 8^th January, 2019 and continued its bearish momentum on 9^th January, 2019, falling over 2.8% (as of 10:22 am GMT-5; Source: Google finance) after the company posted in line earnings for the third quarter of 2019. Adjusted operating income decreased $6.9 million, or 8.9%, to $70.6 million, or 16.4% of net sales, compared to $77.6 million, or 18.4% of net sales. The 2.0 percentage point decrease in adjusted operating margin primarily reflects higher advertising expense, the impact of tariff increases, higher freight expense and increased share-based compensation expense. These factors were partially offset by the favorable comparative impact of foreign currency exchange and forward contract settlements, lower amortization expense and the favorable margin impact from Leadership Brand growth.

Adjusted income from continuing operations decreased $4.9 million, or 7.1%, to $63.2 million, or $2.40 per diluted share, compared to $68.1 million, or $2.50 per diluted share. The 4.0% decrease in adjusted diluted EPS from continuing operations was primarily due to lower operating income from the Health & Home segment, partially offset by higher adjusted operating income from the Housewares segment, lower interest expense, lower tax expense, and the impact of lower weighted average diluted shares outstanding

HELE in the third quarter of FY 19 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $2.40, which is in line with the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $2.40 as per Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 2.4 percent to $431.08 million in the third quarter of FY 19, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue by 2.59%. The revenue grew primarily driven by a core business increase of $12.1 million, or 2.9%, reflecting an increase in brick and mortar sales in our Housewares segment and growth in consolidated online sales. Net sales from Leadership Brands increased 4.9% to $343.4 million, compared to $327.3 million. These factors were partially offset by a decline in the personal care category and the discontinuation of certain brands and products in the Beauty segment, a deceleration of growth in China ecommerce, and the unfavorable impact from foreign currency fluctuations of approximately $1.8 million, or 0.4%. The Company reclassified $2.9 million of expense from selling, general and administrative expense (“SG&A”) to a reduction of net sales revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2018 to conform with ASU 2014-09 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers”.

For FY 19, the company expects consolidated net sales revenue to be in the range of $1.535 to $1.550 billion, which implies consolidated sales growth of 3.8% to 4.8%. The Company now expects non-GAAP adjusted diluted EPS from continuing operations in the range of $7.70 to $7.95.