Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) reported its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Wednesday. The company had $1.91 in earnings per share (EPS) on $3.4 billion in revenue compared to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $1.81 in EPS on $3.39 billion in revenue. The same period from the previous year had $1.80 in EPS on $3.34 billion in revenue.
In the fiscal fourth quarter, comparable sales increased roughly 1.7%, an increase of 2.1% on a constant currency basis, compared with an increase of 3.7% from last year. Comparable sales from customer-facing digital channels grew in excess of 25% while comparable sales from stores were relatively flat.
The board authorized a quarterly dividend program, and declared an initial quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, to be paid on July 19, to shareholders of record as of June 17.
As for the guidance we can expect an update on the quarterly conference call. However there are consensus estimates that are calling for $5.01 in EPS on $12.08 in revenue for the coming fiscal year.
Steven H. Temares, CEO and board member of Bed Bath & Beyond, commented:
We reported fiscal 2015 net earnings per diluted share of $5.10 including a $.06 net benefit for certain non-recurring items. Excluding this net benefit, we were at $5.04, which marks the fourth year in a row that we have been in this four-and-a-half to just over five dollar range since we entered a heavy investment phase several years ago, and we believe we can again achieve earnings per share at the high end of this range this year and, in the event our comp is higher than the 1% to 2% range we’re modeling, exceed it.
On the books, the company had cash, equivalents, and short-term investments of $601.8 million compared to $985.6 million in the same period last year.
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond closed down 0.5% at $48.81, with a consensus analyst price target of $48.17 and a 52-week trading range of $41.26 to $77.89. Following the release of the earnings report the stock was up 4.6% at $51.07 in the after-hours trading session.
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