What happened
Shares of Williams-Sonoma (WSM 0.59%) surged on Thursday morning, after the company announced earnings that beat Wall Street estimates.
As of 10:45 a.m. EDT, Williams-Sonoma's shares were up about 11% from Wednesday's closing price.
So what
Williams-Sonoma reported its fourth-quarter results after the market closed on Wednesday, and they were good. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $2.13 per share in the quarter, up from $2.10 per share a year ago and ahead of the $2.05-per-share consensus estimate among Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue of $1.8 billion was roughly flat from the year-ago period, and in line with estimates.
Image source: Williams-Sonoma.
CEO Laura Alber said the holiday season had been strong, with comparable-brand revenue growth of 7.6% driven by strong growth for West Elm (13.9%) and Pottery Barn (7.1%) and a return to growth for the core Williams-Sonoma brand (3.3%).
Now what
What's ahead for Willams-Sonoma in 2020? It's hard to predict. CFO Julie Whalen declined to provide investors with guidance for fiscal 2020 for the time being, citing the uncertainties around the coronavirus pandemic.
The company said earlier this week that it has closed all of its stores in the U.S. and Canada until at least April 2.
