All of us Fools enjoy a bargain share price buy on the ASX from time to time, and who wouldn't?
But is the Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) share price a bargain buy at $4.07 per share or will the Aussie food group see its share price fall further in 2019?
Why the Costa Group share price has been hammered this year
The Aussie fruit and vegetable producer's share price fell nearly 40% in one day back in early January as the company provided an update on its FY19 earnings guidance.
The trading update saw the company announce "subdued demand" in a number of categories including tomato, berry and avocado in December 2018. An early finish to the citrus off season and reduced pricing in a number of product lines also hit the company particularly hard.
The announcement in itself didn't say anything too damaging, but it revealed that the company expected flat growth for the twelve-month NPAT before SGARA and material items and amortisation (NPAT-S), compared to previously forecast low double-digit growth, and this sent the share price tumbling.
Has the share price bottomed out at $4.07 per share?
The Costa Group share price has fallen 43.04% so far this year and even fell a further 0.24% in yesterday's trade, but could there be a share price rebound on the horizon?
I think the key for Costa Group is its full-year results.
A strong full-year result from the group that demonstrates a path towards future earnings growth and a strong strategic plan could lay the foundations for the Costa Group share price to recover its losses before the year is out.
However, the big risk here is that with all this negativity and expected lack of growth priced into the share price at the moment, another weak result following on from the company's February half-year earnings report could spark the Costa Group share price to slump even lower.
I'd be watching closely for the company's August full-year results and paying attention to the company's top-line earnings growth with the ongoing healthy food trend a potential factor in an earnings surprise for the group.
All in all, at $4.07 per share, long-term 'buy and hold' investors could find value in Costa Group at the moment but I'd be waiting until after results before diving into the stock as a solid buy.
