Walking the Aisles at Bed Bath & Beyond: Fool by Numbers

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On Wednesday, April 11, after the market-close, specialty retailer Bed Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY) released fourth-quarter and year-end results for the period ended March 3. Here are the quick and dirty details for the quarter.

• Despite the cooling housing market, Bed Bath & Beyond grew revenue by 18.4% and improved same-store sales by 5.2%.

• While profitability fell across the board, diluted earnings managed to increase 7.5%, including a non-recurring charge paid to protect employees from potential IRS tax consequences.

• The company expanded its line of products with the acquisition of buybuy BABY, an infant and toddler retailer.

• Bed Bath & Beyond carries a three-star rating in Motley Fool's CAPS community. The pickings are slim when it comes to finding appealing publicly traded peers. Linens 'N Things is now a private firm, and home furnishing-related retailer Restoration Hardware (Nasdaq: RSTO) and Pier 1 (NYSE: PIR) carry low one-star CAPS ratings. Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) is rated a more favorable four-stars.      

(Figures in thousands, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q4 2007	Q4 2006	Change
Sales	$1,994,987	$1,685,279	18.4%
Net Profit	$205,842	$197,922	4.0%
EPS	$0.72	$0.67	7.5%
Diluted Shares	284,431	294,401	(3.4%)

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

Margin Checkup

	Q4 2007	Q4 2006	Change*
Gross Margin	43.26%	44.37%	(1.11)
Operating Margin	16.20%	18.76%	(2.56)
Net Margin	10.32%	11.74%	(1.42)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q4 2007	Q4 2006	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$988,262	$651,810	51.6%
Inventory	$1,505,800	$1,301,720	15.7%

Liabilities	Q4 2007	Q4 2006	Change
Accounts Payable	$615,156	$534,910	15.0%

The balance sheet reflects the company's health.

Cash Flow Highlights

	YTD 2007	YTD 2006	Change
Cash From Ops.	$613,632	$660,435	(7.1%)
Capital Expenditures	$317,501	$220,394	44.1%
Free Cash Flow	$296,131	$440,041	(32.7%)

Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.

Related Foolishness:

• Warren Buffett's Priceless Investment Advice

• Dueling Fools: Bed Bath & Beyond

• 70 Times Better Than the Next Microsoft

Bed Bath & Beyond is both a Stock Advisor and an Inside Value recommendation. Both market-beating newsletters are available for a free 30-day trial.

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 check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean.

Fool contributor Ryan Fuhrmann is long shares of Bad Bath but has no financial interest in any other company mentioned. The Fool has an ironclad disclosure policy. Feel free to email him with feedback or to discuss any companies mentioned further.