Craft Brewers Alliance (NASDAQ: BREW) reported Q4 EPS of $0.04, $0.01 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.05. Revenue for the quarter came in at $50.99 million versus the consensus estimate of $47.1 million.

“I am extremely proud of the strong results we achieved in 2014, which are testament to the tremendous resolve and focus demonstrated by the CBA team,” said Andy Thomas, chief executive officer, CBA. “At the beginning of the year, we committed to driving continued and sustainable topline growth while reducing our SKUs by 25 percent, to expanding gross margin, and to bringing Memphis online by summer. Given that we accomplished each of these major priorities in an increasingly competitive market and during the first full year with the new executive leadership team in place, we are truly optimistic about the year ahead and our ability to achieve continued growth and long-term success.”

Anticipated financial highlights for 2015

• Owned beer shipment growth between 6% and 8%. [Note: The Company is adjusting its guidance in response to analyst feedback and to align with industry practices. It will not provide annual depletion guidance in financial press releases but will share actuals on analyst calls and in 10-K and 10-Q filings.]
• Average price increase of 1% to 2%.
• A growth of 10% to a decline of 10% in contract brewing revenue as we continue to manage the most efficient use of our owned capacity.
• Gross margin rate of 30.5% to 31.5%. Through ongoing efforts to optimize our brewing locations and improve our capacity utilization and efficiency, we continue to expect gross margin expansion to 35% in 2017.
• SG&A expense ranging from $58 million to $62 million, primarily reflecting reinvestment into our sales and marketing infrastructure, as well as expanded consumer and trade programming.
• Capital expenditures of approximately $17 million to $21 million, as we continue to make investments in quality, safety, sustainability, capacity and efficiency.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Craft Brewers Alliance (BREW) click here.