What happened?
Shares of Burlington Stores (BURL -1.11%), a national off-price retail chain known for apparel products, are down more than 13% Thursday morning after the company reported fourth-quarter results.
So what
Burlington's fourth-quarter results were mixed, with earnings beating estimates but sales falling short of expectations. Total revenue increased 2.8% to $2.0 billion, short of analysts' estimates calling for $2.06 billion. Adjusted earnings per share checked in at $2.83, topping analysts' estimates of $2.77 per share. Same-store sales posted a modest 1.3% increase, which fell short of estimates calling for a 3.2% increase.
Check out the latest earnings call transcript for Burlington Stores.
Image source: Getty Images.
"While we are disappointed with how the year ended from a sales perspective, we did have a solid Fiscal 2018 on both the top and bottom line. We remain confident in our business model and long term prospects for growth, and still expect Fiscal 2019 Adjusted EPS to increase low double digits on a comparable basis versus Fiscal 2018," said Tom Kingsbury, Burlington Stores CEO, in a press release.
Now what
It's also worth noting that the fourth quarter was the company's most difficult same-store sales comparison, and it's only one quarter removed from its strong 4.4% comparable-store gain during the third quarter, which powered a 13.7% increase in sales. Forward-looking guidance for full-year 2019 was also at the low end of expectations: Management expects adjusted earnings per share between $6.93 and $7.06, with analysts expecting $7.07 per share.
