Tempur-Pedic Guides Revenue Above Consensus (TPX)

Tempur-Pedic International TPX today announced preliminary financial results for the first quarter of 2011. The Company also increased financial guidance for 2011. Financial Guidance The Company increased full year 2011 guidance for net sales and EPS. It currently expects net sales for 2011 to range from $1.31 billion to $1.36 billion. It currently expects EPS for 2011 to range from $2.80 to $2.95. The Company noted its EPS guidance assumes a full year diluted share count of approximately 71 million and does not assume any benefit from a potential further reduction in shares outstanding related to its share repurchase program. The Company noted its expectations are based on information available at the time of this release, and are subject to changing conditions, many of which are outside of the Company's control. Chief Executive Officer Mark Sarvary commented, "First quarter sales and profits exceeded our prior expectations in both our North American and International segments. During the quarter, we made progress in our effort to enhance our product range and significantly increased our investment in consumer marketing as we seek to capitalize on the considerable market share opportunity we see for our brand." Chief Financial Officer Dale Williams commented, "We are pleased that our manufacturing and productivity initiatives continued to deliver significant benefits, which helped drive improved gross margin on a sequential basis. In revising our financial guidance, we considered both the positive sales trends we experienced during the quarter as well as a more inflationary outlook for commodities."