What happened
Shares of furniture and home goods retailer RH (RH -3.37%) got a quick boost on Thursday, rising as much as 13.5% in the first hour of trading. By roughly 10:45 a.m. ET today, the stock had given back a little bit of ground, but was still higher by a respectable 10% or so. The big news was the company's earnings update after the close yesterday. Here's a quick look at what got investors so excited.
So what
RH's third-quarter 2021 revenue of $1.006 billion was a new high-water mark for the company, besting 2020's third-quarter tally by 19%, and topping the same quarter of 2019 by a huge 49%. The company's operating margin rose a full percentage point year over year, with adjusted earnings coming in at $7.03 per share, compared to $6.20 in the third quarter of 2020. Wall Street consensus was looking for earnings of $6.68 per share, so RH beat in a very big way. That alone would have been enough to get investors excited here.
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However, what is also interesting is that RH noted that it achieved these results despite supply chain issues that caused it to delay store openings, the launch of a new product line, and the release of a catalog. If the company was able to hit a sales record despite all of that, it is doing pretty well. In fact, management increased full-year guidance, raising the low end of its previous guidance for sales and margins.
But the really interesting aspect is that the product, store, and marketing delays noted above will likely be pushed into 2022, suggesting that next year could be a pretty exciting one for RH and its shareholders.
Now what
Many retailers this earnings season have been hammered at the mere mention of supply chain headwinds. The fact that RH was able to excel even as it had to pull back on some of its growth efforts clearly was not lost on investors today.
And the fact that these efforts will just be pushed into 2022 -- well, that's even better. Is it any wonder that investors were pleased with the company's quarterly update?
