Shares of Toro Co. /zigman2/quotes/206874474/composite TTC +2.62% sank 7.8% in afternoon trading Wednesday, after the maker of lawn mowers and snow blowers reported a fiscal first-quarter profit that beat expectations but sales that came up short. The stock was on track for the biggest one-day drop since it dropped 8.7% on Aug. 24, 2017. The company said before the open that net income for the quarter to Oct. 31 slipped to $38.3 million, or 35 cents a share, from $39.0 million, or 36 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted EPS rose to 48 cents from 32 cents, and beat the FactSet consensus of 46 cents. Sales rose 36% to $734.4 million, below the FactSet consensus of $745.0 million, with a miss in professional sales offsetting a beat in residential. For fiscal 2020, the company said it expects sales of about $3.6 billion and adjusted EPS of $3.33 to $3.40, compared with the FactSet consensus for revenue of $3.62 billion and EPS of $3.35. The stock, which had closed at a record high as recently as last Thursday, has run up 33.4% year to date, while the S&P 500 /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX +1.46% has gained 27.5%.


