Retail

What to Expect From Pier 1 Earnings

Chris Lange

Published: April 13, 2016 9:55 am

Last Updated: March 13, 2020 10:09 pm

Pier 1 Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) is scheduled to report its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results after the markets close on Wednesday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters call for $0.21 in earnings per share (EPS) on $526.76 million in revenue. In the same period of last year, the retailer posted EPS of $0.39 and $543.60 million in revenue.

At the time of the previous earnings report, this stock collapsed, hitting a new 52-week low despite beating consensus estimates on the bottom line due to having a sizable miss on revenues. Although to- line results did not meet expectations, strict expense control enabled Pier 1 to deliver EPS within its guidance range for the third quarter.

The company’s sales slowed in the third quarter, primarily reflecting soft store traffic. At the same time, e-commerce sales continued to demonstrate strong growth and represented roughly 16% of total sales in the period.

A few analysts weighed in on the company ahead of the earnings report:

• Wedbush reiterated a Neutral rating with a $6 price target.
• Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a Market Perform rating and raised its price target to $6 from $5.
• Deutsche Bank reiterated a Sell rating.

So far in 2016, Pier 1 has outperformed the broad markets, with the stock up 39%. However, over the past 52 weeks the stock actually is down nearly 50%.

Shares of Pier 1 traded up 3.9% to $7.22 Wednesday morning, with a consensus analyst price target of $6.00 and a 52-week trading range of $3.76 to $13.66.