Shares of home decor chain Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. climbed Thursday, a day after the retailer posted same-store-sales results that were modestly above expectations.
On Wednesday, the Union, N.J.-based company said it earned $119.3 million, or 46 cents per share, for the three months ending Aug. 31. The results were in line with Wall Street forecasts, but a 19 percent drop from the previous year's performance, when the company's profit was $147 million, or 55 cents per share.
Sales grew about 5 percent, as revenue reached $1.85 billion. And same-store sales _ an important retail industry metric of stores open at least a year _ dropped 0.1 percent.
SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst David Magee said the dip in comparable sales was better than his expected decline of 1 percent.
The home decor industry has been particularly hard hit by the nation's slowing economy and housing sector and Bed Bath & Beyond's largest competitor _ Linens n' Things _ is currently under bankruptcy protection.
"(Bed Bath & Beyond) is, in our view, a relatively safe haven, a best-of-breed operator with a strong balance sheet, and as evidenced by the 2Q report, the ability to execute effectively even in the absence of an industry tailwind," Magee told investors in a research note published Thursday. "Add to that the potential that its closest source of competition could go away and we believe you have a story, and stock that should continue to perform well at a time when it is difficult to muster much optimism for others in the space."
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond rose $1.48, or 4.8 percent, to $32.19.
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