For the third quarter, Tractor Supply Co. beat Wall Street earnings and revenue estimates as it enjoyed double digit comparable store sales growth.
Tractor Supply’s diluted earnings per share topped a MarketBeat-published analyst average diluted earnings per share estimate of $1.66, and it topped a $2.86 billion revenue estimate as well.
Comparable store sales gained 13.1% over a 26.8% increase in the prior year’s third quarter. Comparable average ticket growth and comparable average transaction count growth of 9.5% and 3.6%, respectively, drove the overall comp number, according to Tractor Supply. The comp gains reflected robust demand for everyday merchandise, including consumable, usable and edible products, as well as continued gains in summer seasonal categories. E-commerce sales experienced double-digit growth for the 37th consecutive quarter. Tractor Supply added.
Net sales advanced 15.8% to $3.02 billion from $2.61 billion in the year-prior quarter, while operating income increased 17.9% to $297.2 million.
“The third quarter marks our sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit comparable store sales growth,” said Hal Lawton, Tractor Supply president and CEO in announcing the financial results. “We are once again very pleased with the overall performance of our business, which exceeded our expectations. Over 18 months into the pandemic, our business has never been stronger. Our growth continues to be robust. Our customer trends remain structurally sound. We are continuing to gain market share and invest in the business to capture the significant opportunities ahead of us. As we advance our multiyear Life Out Here Strategy, we are beginning to realize the benefits from our strategic initiatives. Despite unprecedented pressures across our supply chain, we are raising our outlook for fiscal 2021 and are on track for a record year of sales and earnings.”
Tractor Supply opened 12 new namesake and three new Petsense stores in the third quarter.
