Burlington Stores turned in solid second-quarter gains while looking ahead to a back half of a year the company believes holds promise for its value positioning.
Net income was $73.8 million, or $1.15 per diluted share, versus $30.9 million, or 47 cents per diluted share, in the 2023 second quarter. Adjusted for one-time events, net income was $77.5 million million, or $1.20 per diluted share, versus $38.9 million, or 60 cents per diluted share, in the year-past period, Burlington stated.
A Yahoo Finance-published analyst consensus estimate had earnings per adjusted diluted shares at 95 cents and revenues at $2.41 billion.
Total revenue was $2.47 billion versus $2.17 billion in the year-earlier period, the company reported, as comparable sales gained 5%.
In a conference call, Michael O’Sullivan, Burlington CEO, said comparable sales growth in home was in line with the overall chain in the mid-single digit range. He said Burlington enjoyed especially strong sales trends in seasonal.
O’Sullivan noted new stores were an important second-quarter growth driver. The company added 36 net new stores and ended the period operating 1,057 locations. O’Sullivan maintained that the company’s lower income consumer may be feeling less pressure as inflation has moderated and, at the same time, an emphasis on value across demographics is favorable to Burlngton, with both factors being cause for some optimism through year’s end.
“Comparable store sales increased 5%, while total sales increased 13%,”O’Sullivan said. “Both of these metrics were well ahead of our expectations. We saw very strong margin improvement and earnings growth during the second quarter. 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.”
In looking at the year ahead, O’Sullivan said, “We remain confident in the outlook for our business for the balance of fiscal 2024. 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. That 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.”
