What happened
Shares of Signet Jewelers (SIG 1.38%) climbed 7.8% on Thursday after the diamond-jewelry retailer announced better-than-expected quarterly results and forward guidance.
So what
More specifically, in Signet's fiscal 2020 third quarter (ended November 2, 2019), revenue declined 0.3% year over year, to $1.188 billion, as 2.1% same-store sales growth was more than offset by the impact of closed locations. On the bottom line, that translated to a non-GAAP (adjusted) net loss of $43.7 million, or $0.76 per share, narrowed from an adjusted net loss of $1.06 per share in the same year-ago period.
Analysts, on average, were expecting a much wider loss of $1.08 per share on revenue of $1.14 billion.
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.
"We delivered positive same store sales and improved profitability year over year and ahead of our guidance as we continued to drive our Path to Brilliance transformation," stated Signet CEO Virginia Drosos, referring to the company's ongoing restructuring initiatives. "As we approach the key selling weeks ahead, we are focused on successfully executing our customer inspired holiday plans featuring new on-trend merchandise, enhanced eCommerce capabilities, and more relevant and targeted marketing campaigns."
Now what
If that wasn't enough, Signet told investors it now expects full fiscal-year 2020 adjusted earnings per share of $3.11 to $3.29 and -- assuming a fiscal same-store sales decline of 1.7% to 1% -- total sales of $6.01 billion to $6.05 billion. Here again, the midpoints of both ranges were well above Wall Street's consensus estimates for full fiscal-year earnings of $2.90 per share on revenue of $6.02 billion.
