Ross Stores Inc. bested Wall Street’s revenue estimates and posted a 6-cent earnings per share beat for the third quarter.
In a Nutshell: Barbara Rentler, CEO, said, “We are pleased that our third-quarter results were ahead of expectations. Operating margin of 12.4 percent was also above-plan, mainly due to better-than-expected sales and merchandise margin.”
Net Sales: For the quarter ended Nov. 2, net sales rose 8.4 percent to $3.85 billion from $3.55 billion. The company said comparable-store sales gained 5 percent on top of the year-ago gain of 3 percent.
Earnings: Net earnings increased 9.7 percent to $370.9 million, or $1.03 a diluted share, from $338.1 million, or 91 cents, a year ago.
Wall Street was expecting 97 cents on sales of $3.77 billion.
Rentler said the company is keeping its projection of a fourth-quarter comp gain of 1 percent to 2 percent on top of a 4 percent increase a year ago. Fourth quarter earnings per share is expected in the range of $1.20 to $1.25, compared with $1.20 in the year-ago quarter. For the year, fiscal 2019 EPS is forecasted at between $4.52 to $4.57, versus $4.26 in fiscal 2018.
CEO’s Take: According to Rentler, “As we enter this year’s holiday season, we are up against multiple years of strong comparable store sales gains. In addition, we expect another fiercely competitive retail landscape, along with ongoing uncertainty surrounding the macro-economic and political environment.”