Big Lots upbeat about third quarter; early read on holiday ‘encouraging’

Big Lots gave an optimistic update on expected results for its third quarter fueled by strong sales.

The discounter expects to post a profit for the quarter, swinging from a loss in the year-ago period, on same-store sales growth in the mid-teens. Big Lots projects earnings per share of $0.50 cents to $0.70 cents compared to an adjusted net loss per share of $0.18 in the third quarter of fiscal 2019.
 
"I am delighted with our continued strong sales performance, which puts us on track to deliver another excellent quarter, and gives us strong momentum coming into the critical holiday season,” said CEO Bruce Thorn. Our assortment remains well-positioned against customer demand, and early reads on Christmas are very encouraging. All of this is helping us acquire customers at an accelerating rate.”

Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Big Lots operates 1,409 stores in 47 states.