In the first quarter, Ollie’s beat Wall Street sales and earnings estimates, posted solid comp gains and kept adding stores.
Adjusted for one-time events, net income was $30.8 million, or 49 cents per diluted share, versus $12.8 million, or 20 cents per diluted share, in the year-earlier period, the company reported.
Ollie’s topped a MarketBeat-published analyst consensus estimate for earnings of 48 cents per adjusted diluted share and sales of $451.4 million.
Comparable store sales increased 4.5%, the company stated, while net sales increased 12.9% to $459.2 million in the quarter a year previous. Operating income was $38.5 million versus $17.1 million in the year-before period.
“We are pleased with our first quarter performance, which exceeded our expectations and was driven by strong comparable store sales, new store productivity and margin expansion,” said John Swygert, Ollie’s president and CEO, in announcing the financial results. “Customers are responding to our compelling deals, resulting in accelerating transaction trends, and we are encouraged to see our product offerings appealing to a wider customer base that includes more higher-income and younger-age shoppers. Our deal flow remains robust, and we believe that we are well positioned in the current environment as consumers are increasingly looking for value.”
Ollie’s noted that it had opened nine new stores and closed one, ending the quarter with 476 locations in 29 states, a year-over-year store count increase of 8.4%.
