Shares of Tempur Sealy International Inc. sank 3.5% toward a nine-month low in premarket trading Tuesday, after the mattress maker reported fourth-quarter profit that missed expectations, as a cost of sales growth outpaced sales growth to send gross margin lower. Net income rose to $175.8 million, or 88 cents a share, from $144.7 million, or 67 cents a share, but missed the FactSet consensus for earnings per share of 96 cents. Sales grew 28.6% to $1.36 billion, but was below the FactSet consensus of $1.45 billion. Cost of sales increased 32.1% to $755.1 million as gross margin declined to 44.5% from 45.9%. For 2022, the company expects EPS of $3.65 to $3.85 and sales growth of between 15% and 20%, while the FactSet consensus for EPS was $3.76 and for sales of $5.60 billion implies 13.5% growth. Separately, the company said it raised its quarterly dividend to 10 cents a share from 9 cents, with the new dividend payable March 22 to shareholders of record on March 8. The stock has dropped 15.1% over the past three months through Friday, while the S&P 500 has shed 7.1%.
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