What: Shares of mattress specialist Select Comfort (SNBR -5.27%) soared more than 20% on Thursday after its quarterly results and outlook impressed Wall Street.
So what: Select Comfort shares have slumped sharply in recent months on concerns over sluggish sales, but strong Q3 results -- EPS of $0.62 on revenue of $373.9 million vs. the consensus of $0.41 and $356.1 million -- coupled with in-line full-year guidance suggests that those worries are a tad overblown. In fact, comparable-store sales increased 11% over the year-ago period while gross margin expanded 110 basis points, giving analysts plenty of positive vibes over Select Comfort's cost structure and competitive position going forward.
Now what: Management reaffirmed its full-year EPS guidance of $1.35 and expects its return on invested capital (ROIC) to be in the midteens. "We have implemented our new ERP system on time and on budget," said President and CEO Shelly Ibach. "As anticipated, the implementation has caused customer service and delivery disruptions, which we expect to be isolated to the fourth quarter. We look forward to the agility and efficiencies this system will enable for our customers and team." With the stock now up about 26% from its 52-week lows, however, I'd wait for some of the exuberance to fade before buying too heavily into that bull talk.
