Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE: SIG) reported its fiscal second-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Thursday. This jewelry store chain had been tanking in 2017, with shares down over 40%. However, with this earnings report and an acquisition, Signet could be staging a big turnaround.
The company said that it had $1.33 in earnings per share (EPS) and $1.4 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $1.14 in EPS and revenue of $1.38 billion. Thomson Reuters had consensus estimates of $1.04 in EPS on $1.33 billion in revenue.
During the quarter, same-store sales were up 1.4%, driven by e-commerce platform improvements, Mother’s Day performance and timing, effective marketing and bridal promotion initiatives.
In terms of guidance for the year, the company expects to see same-store sales down low-mid single-digits and EPS in the range of $7.16 to $7.56. Consensus estimate are ESP of $6.66 and $6.17 billion in revenue for the full year.
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Separate from the earnings release, the company announced that it would be acquiring R2Net for $328 million in an all cash transaction. R2Net is the owner of JamesAllen.com, a fast-growing online jewelry retailer, as well as Segoma Imaging Technologies, who provides R2Net machines to enable delivery of next-generation digital shopping experience for jewelry. The acquisition represents an important step for Signet toward building scalable digital capabilities for an omnichannel transformation.
Virginia C. Drosos, CEO of Signet, commented:
Our encouraging second quarter performance reflects Signet’s fundamental competitive strengths and the progress we are making on our strategic priorities. We delivered positive same store sales performance and managed our cost base to deliver operating margin expansion in a highly promotional environment. Further, today we announced the acquisition of JamesAllen.com to add a leading, fast-growing online jeweler to our portfolio. The acquisition will enhance our innovation and digital capabilities with R2Net’s technology to create a best-in-class OmniChannel shopping experience across our banners. Based on this positive momentum, we are increasingly confident that Signet is well-positioned for the upcoming holiday selling season and on track to achieve our financial targets for the year.
Shares of Signet were last seen up nearly 23% at $63.80, with a consensus analyst price target of $64.73 and a 52-week range of $46.09 to $101.46.
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