Stock Alert: Lifeway Foods Inc. (LWAY)

(RTTNews) - Shares of Lifeway Foods Inc. (LWAY) rose 27.93% to $2.29 in after-hours trading on April 14, after the company announced that it expects preliminary, unaudited Q1 net sales to increase 2% - 4% as compared to the previous year, with the month of March net sales up 13% year-over-year.

Further, the company expects to continue to benefit in 2020 from strong industry tailwinds including lower dairy and oil prices.

Julie Smolyansky, Lifeway's Chief Executive Officer, said, "During this time of shelter-in-place as a result of COVID-19, 40% of Americans are more proactively taking care of their physical and emotional health and 17% are consuming more immunity and overall self-care supporting products such as probiotics and vitamins, according to IRI..."

Lifeway has increased its production in the first quarter of 2020 to meet accelerated demand at both grocery retail and online grocery as more consumers focus on self-care and nutrition to aid in their overall health and wellness needs.

The stock has been trading between $1.43 and $4.75 for the past one year, and closed Tuesday's regular trade at $1.79, down 11 cents or 5.79%. Trading volume surged to 173 thousand versus an average volume of 23 thousand shares.