Middleby (NASDAQ: MIDD) has done a good job of offering a wide array of kitchen equipment both to consumers and to restaurants and other institutional food-services providers. As the variety of restaurants has widened, so too have the needs of Middleby’s customers, but the equipment specialist has kept up through strategic acquisitions and organic growth. Coming into Tuesday’s fourth-quarter financial report, Middleby investors had high hopes for solid sales gains and double-digit percentage growth in net income.