What happened
Shares of Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings (OLLI 1.91%) were up 15.1% as of 2:00 p.m. EST Wednesday after the discount retail chain released stronger-than-expected fiscal third-quarter 2019 results. Ollie's also announced it has named John Swygert as its new permanent CEO, effective immediately. Previously the company's chief operating officer, Swygert had served as interim CEO following the unexpected death of Ollie's co-founder, chairman, and chief executive Mark Butler earlier this month.
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So what
More specifically on its quarterly performance, Ollie's net sales climbed 15.3% year over year to $327 million, bolstered by a combination of new locations and 1.4% comparable-store sales growth. That translated to adjusted (non-GAAP) net income of $26.8 million, or $0.41 per share, up more than 28% from the same year-ago period.
By comparison, and though we don't usually pay close attention to Wall Street's demands, most analysts were modeling lower adjusted earnings of $0.38 per share on net sales closer to $333 million.
In a prepared statement, Swygert added:
Our profound sadness at the unexpected passing of our founder and friend, Mark Butler, eclipses the results we posted in the third quarter. As we pay tribute to the visionary businessman and special person that was Mark, we remain committed to the foundation upon which he built Ollie's: offering great brands at great values, or as Mark called it, "Good Stuff Cheap." We were pleased to deliver strong results during the third quarter, having addressed the challenges we faced in the prior quarter.
Now what
Ollie's also reaffirmed its full-year guidance for total net sales of $1.419 billion to $1.43 billion, assuming a comparable-store sales decline of 0.5% to 1.5%, and for 2019 adjusted net income per share of $1.95 to $2.00.
In the end, the market is obviously pleased that Ollie's was able to effectively combat the headwinds that were holding back its same-store sales and gross margin profile three months ago. And this top consumer discretionary stock is responding in kind today.
