What happened
Shares of At Home Group (HOME) climbed 10% on Tuesday after the home furnishings retailer provided improved guidance for fiscal fourth-quarter results. The stock slumped in December after lowering full-year guidance, but the last three months of the fiscal year apparently went better than management had feared.
So what
On Tuesday morning, At Home said it expects to report fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.37 per share on revenue of $397.7 million when it reports on March 24, beating the consensus estimate for $0.35 per share in earnings on revenue of $391 million. Comparable store sales are now expected to come in down about 3.1%, compared to a previous forecast of down 6% to down 4%.
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For the full fiscal year, At Home now expects to report adjusted earnings of about $0.57 per share on revenue of $1.37 billion. The company had previously guided to expect earnings of between $0.53 and $0.56 per share on revenue of between $1.35 billion and $1.36 billion.
Chairman and CEO Lee Bird said results were aided by a strong finish to the company's fiscal year.
"We are pleased with the comparable store sales improvement we delivered in the back half of the fourth quarter, our healthy inventory position to end the year and the $100+ million improvement in free cash flow we made during fiscal 2020," Bird said.
Now what
The company appears to be rebounding off of its lows, but new dangers lurk ahead. Bird said At Home is closely monitoring the COVID-19 coronavirus impact on its supply chain and on consumer demand. Management will update the situation and discuss what they are seeing in terms of demand trends on the March 24 earnings call.
Even after Tuesday's jump, shares of At Home are still down more than 84% on the year, and substantial questions remain about the overall health of the U.S. consumer and how severely the coronavirus outbreak will dampen economic activity. There is still a good deal of uncertainty surrounding this company.
