Burlington income soars, sales jump; on track to open 100 stores
Burlington Stores reported better-than-expected second-quarter results with profit that more than doubled as consumers shopped its stores for deals.
The off-price retailer, which is opening about 100 stores in its current fiscal year, also raised its full-year guidance, said it remains confident in the outlook for our business for the balance of fiscal 2024.
Burlington reported net income of $73.8 million, or $1.15 a share, for the quarter ended Aug. 3, up from $30.9 million, or 47 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were $1.24 a share, way ahead analysts' estimates of $0.96 a share.
Revenue rose 13% to $2.47 billion from $2.17 billion, topping estimates of $2.42 billion. Comparable sales increased 5%.
“We saw very strong margin improvement and earnings growth during the second quarter,” said CEO Michael O’Sullivan. “Our Adjusted EBIT Margin and Adjusted EPS increased 160 basis points and 98%, respectively. This strong performance was driven by the ahead of plan sales, as well as a significant increase in gross margin, and faster than expected progress in our supply chain efficiency initiatives.”
For fiscal 2024, Burlington expects sales to increase between 9% to 10%, up from its previous guidance of between 8% and 10%. Adjusted earnings per share are expected in the range of $7.66 and $7.96, up from its previous estimate of $7.35 and $7.75.
“Based on our year-to-date performance, we are increasing our margin and earnings guidance for the full year, despite some incremental cost pressure from ocean freight,” O’Sullivan said, there are some risks, so we are planning our business cautiously, and maintaining our comparable store sales guidance of 0% to 2% growth for the second half. As we did during the second quarter, we will chase if the underlying sales trend is stronger.”
At the end of its second quarter, the company operated 1,057 stores in 46 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
