Boston, MA 08/28/2014 (wallstreetpr) – A chain of multi-channel specialty retailer of home products, Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) said that the company has been well-positioned across its brands to enter the second half of the current fiscal year. However, it provided a soft guidance for the third quarter and the fiscal year 2014.
President Speaks
The company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Laura Alber, said that it would continue to focus on disciplined execution of its growth proposals coupled with a mixed approach towards capital allocation that could allow shareholder values to improve. He also said that from the perspective of merchandise offering, marketing, and store and online experience too, the company was well-placed with its brands and also well prepared to meet the customers’ needs.
Outlook
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) expects earnings of 58 – 63 cents a share for the third quarter, which fell short of the Wall Street analysts’ estimation of 66 cents a share. Net revenues were projected between $1.10 and $1.13 billion for the same period thus suggesting a mid-point of $1.12 billion. Street analysts’ predict the company to generate revenue of $1.13 billion. It expects comparable brand revenue to witness 4% – 6% uptick.
For the fiscal year 2014, the company estimates earnings of $3.07 – $3.17 a share, which was well short of the Street analysts’ expectations of $3.21 a share. Its total net revenues were estimated in the range of $4.645 – $4.725 billion for the same period. Analysts’ predict $4.13 billion. The comparable brand revenue growth has been predicted to witness an uptick of 5 – 7%.
2Q Results
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) reported net earnings of $50.75 million, up from $48.92 million and the earnings rose to 53 cents a share from 59 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. Net revenues advanced to $1.04 billion from $982.21 million in the previous year quarter. Its comparable brand revenue advanced 5.7%, which was slower than the 8.4% uptick witnessed in the prior year quarter.
While gross margin slipped to 36.8% during the second quarter from 37.6%, operating margin improved to 8.2% from 8% in the year earlier quarter. The company had bought back about 845K shares at an average rate of $69.28 a share for $59 million during the second quarter. It still has about $399 million under its $750 million share buyback program.
