Shares of Freshpet (NASDAQ: FRPT), the maker of fresh, refrigerated dog and cat food, were moving higher the day after the company delivered a better-than-expected earnings report. After the stock got swept up in the broader market sell-off yesterday, it redeemed itself today, tacking on 3.9% as of 1:45 p.m. ET with the help of a bullish analyst note.

Freshpet has been gaining market share in the pet food sector for years. The company continued that pattern in the second quarter, posting a 28.3% increase in revenue to $235.3 million, topping estimates of $231 million. Even better, the gross margin surged from 32.3% to 39.9% as the company benefited from lower input and quality costs and improved leverage on plant-related expenses.

That drove adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to jump from $9 million to $35.1 million. On a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, the company's per-share loss narrowed $0.35 to $0.03, ahead of estimates of a $0.05 per-share loss.

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Source Fool.com