Home goods retailer’s net earnings continue to tumble in Q3

12/20/2017
While Bed Bath & Beyond’s net earnings continue to slide, strong digital sales helped the chain beat analyst estimates for the third quarter.

The company’s net earnings took a hit for the quarter ending Nov. 25, topping out at $61.3 million, compared with $126.4 million for the fiscal 2016 third quarter. While earnings were $.44 per diluted share compared to $.85 for the same period last year, this was above analyst expectations of an estimated $0.37 per share, according to Nasdaq.

Net sales were approximately $3.0 billion, relatively flat to the prior year quarter. Comparable sales decreased by approximately 0.3% for the period. While same-store sales declined in the low-single-digit percentage range during the fiscal 2017 third quarter, comparable sales from customer-facing digital channels continued their strong growth.

During the third quarter, the company repurchased approximately $24 million of its common stock, representing approximately 929,000 shares, under its existing $2.5 billion share repurchase program. As of Nov. 25, the program had a remaining balance of approximately $1.5 billion.

The retailer’s board of directors has also declared a quarterly dividend of $.15 per share, to be paid on April 17, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 16, 2018.

Looking ahead to the remainder of fiscal 2017, the company continues to model net earnings per diluted share for the full year to be about $3.
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