Ross Stores delivered a solid third quarter performance across the board, with a rise in comps, net sales and net earnings.
For the third quarter ended October 28, Ross Stores posted net earnings of $274.4 million, and diluted earnings per share of 72 cents, versus $244.5 million, and 62 per diluted share, in the year-earlier period. Ross topped a MarketBeat-published analyst average estimate of 67 cents per diluted share in the quarter.
Comparable store sales gained 4% versus the quarter a year-before. Sales rose 8% to $3.33 billion in the quarter year over year.
Barbara Rentler, Ross CEO, said, “Our third quarter sales and earnings outperformed our expectations despite being up against our toughest prior year comparisons and two major hurricanes during the quarter. We are pleased with these strong results, which reflect our continued market share gains in a challenging retail environment. Operating margin of 13.3% was better-than-expected, mainly due to a combination of higher merchandise margin and leverage on above-plan sales.”
Looking ahead, Rentler said, “Given our better-than-expected trends in the third quarter, we are raising our sales expectations for the fourth quarter. For the 13 weeks ending January 27, 2018, comparable store sales are now forecast to increase 2% to 3% versus a 4% gain last year. Earnings per share for the 14 weeks ending February 3, 2018 are projected to be $.88 to $.92, up from $.77 in the prior year period. Based on this updated guidance and our year-to-date results, we are now planning earnings per share for fiscal 2017 to be in the range of $3.24 to $3.28.”