Though its sales and earnings rose year over year and it recently announced a special dividend, National Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: FIZZ) is taking a hammering in Friday trading after posting a fiscal second quarter (Q2) 2021 revenue miss. The company, which manufactures the notably popular La Croix sparkling water, soda, and energy drinks, has seen its shares nosedive more than 6% today. Setting aside Wall Street analyst expectations for a moment, National Beverage turned in a profitable quarter's results. Its net sales grew 8% to reach $272 million for the quarter, while net sales for the trailing 12 months topped $1 billion, rising 7.6% over the previous period to $1.05 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter popped 44% year over year, reaching $1.01 versus $0.70 EPS. Image source: Getty Images. But the company didn't meet all consensus forecasts from analysts. Zacks Equity Research reports EPS delivered an 8.6% positive surprise above Wall Street's expectations, giving the company a winning streak of four sequential EPS beats. However, revenue came in approximately 7.3% below consensus, sparking this morning's sell-off. Despite the dip, National Beverage appears to be buoyed by general beverage sector growth, which offered a similar lift for small but plucky energy drink challenger Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ: CELH). In National Beverage's case, growth has been centered on the LaCroix brand, which the company says continues "to outpace the sparkling water category." On Nov. 24, in fact, National Beverage announced a $3 per share special dividend, which it later doubled to $6 per share on Dec. 2. Added to its previous $675 million in dividends, the payout brings the company within "the cost of a tiny pick-up truck away from returning ONE BILLION DOLLARS to our shareholders," according to its colorful description. 10 stocks we like better than National BeverageWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and National Beverage wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of November 20, 2020 Rhian Hunt has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source