Big Lots Beats the Bets: Fool by Numbers

By Motley Fool Contributors | More Articles
November 17, 2006 | Comments (0)

On Oct. 16, Big Lots (NYSE: BIG ) released third-quarter earnings for the period ended Oct. 28.

A comparable-store sales increase of 5.8% led to a rise in sales.
The company's gross margin increased by 50 basis points, mostly because of improved inventory management and lower freight costs.
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(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change
Sales	$1,049.5	$991.4	5.9%
Net Profit*	$1.8	($16.2)	N/A
EPS*	$0.02	($0.14)	N/A
Diluted Shares	109.9	113.3	(3%)

*Does not include discontinued operations.

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change*
Gross Margin	39.6%	39.1%	0.5
Operating Margin	0.2%	(3.1%)	3.3
Net Margin	0.2%	(1.6%)	1.8

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$7.5	$15.1	(50.1%)
Inventory	$994.7	$1,089.9	(8.7%)

Liabilities	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change
Accounts Payable	$303.6	$279.7	8.5%
Long-Term Debt	$36.1	$253.2	(85.7%)

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

So big, yet no cash flow statement.

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Companies:

Dollar Tree Stores (Nasdaq: DLTR )
BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ )
Family Dollar Stores (NYSE: FDO )

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Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so checkFool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.

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