What happened
Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW 0.80%) reported some downright lovable third-quarter results on Wednesday morning. Investors embraced the plush toy retailer's robust revenue trend and drove Build-A-Bear's share price to fresh multiyear highs. The stock had gained 18.6% as of 2:10 p.m. ET.
So what
Third-quarter sales rose 9.8% year over year to $104.5 million. According to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) jumped 42% higher, landing at $0.51 per diluted share. Your average Wall Street analyst had expected earnings of roughly $0.38 per share on revenue near $102.6 million. Build-A-Bear's management also raised its full-year guidance targets. The midpoint of the revenue projection increased from $450 million to $460 million. Various types of profit guidance saw guidance boosts of roughly 4%.
Now what
The retailer saw increased foot traffic to its stores during the third quarter. Build-A-Bear's online shopping portal was relaunched in this reporting period, with data-driven refinements based on lots of A/B testing on everything from the landing page to the checkout experience. The robust results and bullish guidance are even more impressive when you consider the prevailing currency exchange and shipping-cost headwinds, which added $2 million to the company's expenses while reducing top-line sales by $400,000.
Furthermore, Build-A-Bear's stock is still stuffed into Wall Street's bargain bin. Shares are changing hands at just 8.3 times trailing earnings and 0.75 times sales. That's a bargain, even after today's jump brought Build-A-Bear's stock to prices not seen since 2007. That's an impressive turnaround effort in my book.
