Tupperware Brands Corp. TUP shares were tumbling 28% in premarket trading Wednesday after the maker of kitchen products posted a surprise loss and disclosed that it has identified misstatements in its historical accounting for income taxes. The company generated a preliminary fourth-quarter loss from continuing operations of $35.2 million, or 79 cents a share, whereas it posted income from continuing operations of $15.4 million, or 32 cents a share, in the year-prior period. Tupperware logged a 24-cent adjusted loss per share from continuing operations. Analysts tracked by FactSet were expecting 22 cents a share in adjusted earnings, based on three estimates. Sales fell to $313.7 million from $390.1 million, while analysts were modeling $294.3 million, based on two estimates. “We raised prices to protect gross margins, worked with our banks to provide more financial flexibility, accelerated our re-engineering efforts as part of our ongoing commitment to right size the business, and developed innovative programs to significantly reduce inventories in the fourth quarter,” Chief Financial Officer Mariela Matute said in the release, while noting that 2023 is expected to be a “transition year.” Additionally, Tupperware disclosed in its release that it identified misstatements in its historical accounting for income taxes and that it could find other misstatements in its current-period and prior-period financial as it works to close the books on the latest year. Tupperware plans to “disclose a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting” in its 10-K.
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