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What: Shares of Tile Shop Holdings (TTSH -1.40%) were looking stronger today, gaining as much as 23% after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings.
So what: The flooring retailer turned in another impressive quarter as sales increased 25.2% on a 10.1% same-store sales jump. Despite the large gains, the company cited harsh weather as having a negative impact on sales toward the end of the quarter. Profits fell as operating costs outgrew sales, and adjusted EPS declined from $0.09 to $0.04, matching estimates. The company has been expanding rapidly in the last year, adding infrastructure and growing its store base by 30% with eight stores in the fourth quarter alone, which may explain the sliding profits.
Now what: Addressing the drop in profits, CEO Robert Rucker said, "We continue to firmly believe that as our new stores mature, we will return to historic levels of profitability." For the coming year, Tile Shop expects same-store sales to increase by 5% to 7% and to see revenue of $285 million to $295 million against the analyst consensus at $288.4 million. On the bottom line, it sees EPS of $0.43 to $0.47, also in line with analyst estimates at $0.45. Tile Shop is largely a play on the housing recovery, so look for those estimates to move upward if home sales continue to grow.
