Leggett & Platt Revises Guidance; Shares Tumble (LEG)

Leggett & Platt, Incorporated (LEG) reports Q3 earnings of $0.31 versus consensus of $0.37. Leggett & Platt, Incorporated reports revenues of $867 million versus consensus of $888.40 million. Revenues increased 7% year over year. The company issued updated guidance for 2010; it now sees EPS in the range of $1.10 to $1.20 on sales of $3.30 to 3.35 billion. President and CEO David S. Haffner commented, "Certain of our key markets, primarily related to residential furnishings, weakened noticeably in the third quarter. As a result, our third quarter sales were lower than those of second quarter, which rarely occurs. Though aggregate unit volume increased 6% in the third quarter (compared to 3Q 2009), this was a much slower pace than the 15% unit growth experienced during the first half of 2010.” “We believe the stronger consumer demand during the first half of the year was driven, in part, by larger income tax refunds and house purchase incentives. In addition, raw material costs temporarily increased beyond the amounts anticipated when we implemented price increases during the second quarter; however, we are seeing costs begin to retreat to expected levels. As a result, we are revising our full year EPS guidance to the lower half of our prior range.” Shares of leg are lower in the after-hours by 10.83%.