Tractor Supply pulls off double-digit growth

Tractor Supply pulled off double-digit sales growth for the fourth quarter and full year ended Dec. 27, 2014, a picture that CEO Greg Sandfort attributed to balanced progress.

"Sales growth was broad-based across all of our major product categories and geographic regions and was well-balanced between both traffic and ticket," he said. "The fourth quarter was our 27th consecutive quarter of positive comparable store transaction counts.The team did an excellent job of managing product assortments, inventory, and pricing levels to capitalize on early consumer buying trends and drove both sales and margin growth in the quarter."

For the fourth quarter, net sales were up 12.0% to $1.58 billion, compared to $1.42 billion in last year's fourth quarter. Full-year sales were up 10.6% to $5.71 billion. Meanwhile, comparable store sales were up 5.3%year-over-year this quarter. Last year, the fourth quarter saw a 3.5% increase.

The company pointed to strong seasonal sales, a well-performing C.U.E. category and increased sales in big-ticket items. For the full year, comparable store sales were up 3.8% versus a 4.8% increase in fiscal 2013. Net income was also up 16.9% this quarter quarter to $112.1 million. Full-year income for fiscal 2014 was up 13.0% to $370.9 million.Diluted earnings per share were up 19.1% in the fourth quarter, standing at $0.81 instead of $0.68. For the full year, they were up 14.7% to $2.66 from $2.32 in fiscal 2013.

It is my belief that our fourth quarter and full year results reflect our ability to effectively manage seasonal inventory investments, pricing and sell-through during seasonal changes and weather variations," added Sandfort.