The Fresh Market (TFM) Stock Higher in After-Hours Trading Today on Earnings Release

The Fresh Market (TFM) stock is higher late Thursday afternoon following the release of its fourth quarter earnings results.

By Kurumi Fukushima , Mar 5, 2015 4:31 PM EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of TheFresh Market (TFM) are getting a boost, up 4.34% to $41.35 in after-hours trading on Thursday, following the release of the specialty grocery retailer's mixed fourth quarter earnings results.

For the fourth quarter, the company posted earnings of 55 cents per share, topping the consensus earnings estimate of 51 cents per share.

Revenue came in at $480.5 million for the quarter, lower compared to the $482.91 million analysts were expecting.

During the quarter, the company said it grew customer transactions, expanded gross margin and leveraged cost structure. Its marketing activities helped drive an increase of 3.7% in customer traffic, its highest year-over-year growth in the last 10 quarters.

Interim CEO Sean Crane said, "Looking forward, we remain focused on our key growth strategies, including opening new stores in our core markets and continuing to increase shopper frequency."

Greensboro, NC-based The Fresh Market offers food products, with an emphasis on fresh, premium perishables and extraordinary food shopping experience.

The company operates about 151 stores in 26 states with a focus on perishable product categories including meat, seafood, produce, deli, bakery, floral, sushi and prepared foods.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates FRESH MARKET INC as a Buy with a ratings score of B-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate FRESH MARKET INC (TFM) a BUY. This is driven by some important positives, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, increase in net income, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, solid stock price performance and growth in earnings per share. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company is trading at a premium valuation based on our review of its current price compared to such things as earnings and book value.