When Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) reported its fiscal third-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Wednesday, the retailer said that it had $0.85 in earnings per share (EPS) and $2.96 billion in revenue. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters called for $0.98 in EPS and revenue of $3.01 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $1.09 and $2.95 billion in revenue.
Comparable sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2016 decreased by roughly 1.4%, compared with a decrease of about 0.4% in last year’s fiscal third quarter. Comparable sales from customer-facing digital channels grew in excess of 20%, while comparable sales from stores declined in the low single-digit percentage range.
During the third quarter of fiscal 2016, the company repurchased $76 million of its common stock, representing roughly 1.8 million shares, under its existing $2.5 billion share repurchase program. At the end of the quarter, the company had about $1.9 billion remaining in its repurchase program, and it is expected to be completed sometime in fiscal 2020.
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In terms of guidance for the fiscal year, the company expects to see its EPS at the low end of the range of $4.50 to $5.00. The consensus estimates call for $4.73 in EPS and $12.24 billion in revenue.
The board of directors also has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, to be paid on April 18, 2017, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 17.
On the books, Bed Bath & Beyond cash and cash equivalents totaled $473.0 million at the end of the quarter, versus $490.7 million in the same period from last year.
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond were down over 7% at $42.11 on Thursday, with a consensus analyst price target of $ and a 52-week trading range of $38.60 to $52.71.
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