Burlington Stores Inc. (BURL) on Tuesday announced its financial results for the third quarter and somehow managed to beat the consensus forecast.
However, its stock slipped more than 2 percent in the mid-day trading Tuesday. The drop seems to follow the statement from the off-price department store retailer that it has seen weak sales at the start of the fourth quarter, with comparable-store revenue coming in the low double digits.
The Burlington, New Jersey-based company reported earnings of $8.0 million, or 12 cents per share for the three months ended October 31, down from $96.5 million, or $1.44 per share in the same period last year.
On an adjusted basis, profit came in at 29 cents per share, significantly down from $1.53 per share, a drop in revenue and comparatively higher product sourcing expenses weighed on its profit. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting Burlington Stores to report adjusted earnings of 16 cents.
Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.67 billion, down 6.4 percent from last year, but better than $1.55 billion forecasted by analysts.
Speaking on the results, CEO at Burlington Stores, Michael O’Sullivan said “we were pleased with the progress we made in the third quarter. After a challenging start in August, our comparable store sales trend improved significantly to minus 4% in the combined September and October period. During the quarter, there were early signs of progress with our Burlington 2.0 Off-Price Full Potential Strategy, as we chased the sales trends, took advantage of great opportunistic buys, and turned our inventories rapidly. We were able to drive sales and also achieve a very healthy gross margin.”
Same-store sales declined 11 percent in the quarter, less than a drop of 16.3 percent projected by analysts.
The company did not offer any financial outlook, citing an uncertain operating environment due to the pandemic.
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