Today was an important day in earnings for the retail sector. Here’s a round up of some of the retailers that announced their earnings earlier today.
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) announced a fall in profits of around 26% as restructuring costs hit the company’s bottom line. The firm earned $158 million or 46 cents per share in the period. In the first quarter of last year the company earned $212 million. Excluding the one time charges associated with restructuring the company earned 74 cents per share. Revenue at the firm was up slightly to $11.6 billion. The company managed to top analysts expectations on both earnings and revenue. Analysts were looking for earnings of 69 cents per share excluding items and revenue of $11.5 billion. The firm’s stock was up today on the news. At time of writing it was up by over 1.3% to 18.40.
Express Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) has seen its shares tumble by over a quarter today after a disappointing earnings report. Despite the positive year on year performance, the firm’s earnings were 20% higher than last year’s earnings, the firm offered a projection for the fiscal second quarter much lower than analysts had been anticipating. The company earned $42.1 million, 47 cents per share, compared to last year’s 42 cents per share in the same three months. Revenue in the period was $496 million a little short of estimates from analysts. At time of writing the firm’s shares were trading at 16.79, 27% below open.
Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE:WSM) earned $30.72 million, 34 cents per share, an increase on last year’s profit which came in at 30 cents per share. Revenue was $817.61 million, a figure slightly above what analysts had been expecting. Including all items earnings per share was just 30 cents per share. The company is currently restructuring and one time costs were incurred in employee separation deals. The company outperformed analysts expectations. The firm’s stock is up on their earnings report. It was trading at 35.88, a rise of over 3% today, at time of writing.
AutoZone Inc. (NYSE:AZO) a retailer of auto parts has seen its business slack off as new car sales rise. The firm is still doing incredibly well. It posted an earnings per share of $6.29 for the last quarter. That’s a rise of over 18% on last year’s performance and analysts had expected around $6.25. Sales were also up for the company to $2.1 billion in the period. The recovery of the consumer economy may not be the best thing for AutoZone’s business. As new car sales rise older ones are replaced reducing the demand for repair products. The company’s shares were mixed on the earnings report as investors fear the growth of the company is slowing though celebrated the good performance for the quarter. The shares were trading at 368.00 at time of writing.
Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE:RL) earned $94.4 million, 99 cents per share, in the quarter ending on March 31. The firm earned $73.2 million, 74 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Analysts had expected earnings of 85 cents per share. Revenue rose at the firm to $1.62 billion as sales remained strong for the luxury goods retailer. The large increase in sales has led to the company doubling its dividend, given quarter, to 40 cents a share. The firm’s stock was trading up almost 4% today to 162.04.
