Restoration Hardware Earnings Overcome Near-Term Weakness

September 9, 2016 by Chris Lange

When Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RH) reported its fiscal second-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Thursday, it posted an interesting report with phenomenal numbers. But it admitted to short-term weakness in the future that some would think should send the shares lower. However this was not the case.

The company reported $0.44 in earnings per share (EPS) on $543.4 million in revenue, which compares to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $0.29 in EPS on revenue of $517.3 million. In the same period of last year, Restoration Hardware posted EPS of $0.85 and $506.9 million in revenue.

Comparable brand revenue, which includes direct, declined 3% in the second quarter of fiscal 2016, compared to 16% growth for the same period last year.

In terms of the outlook for the third quarter, the company expects to have EPS in the range of $0.13 to $0.18 and revenues between $520 million and $530 million. The consensus estimates call for $0.40 in EPS on $539.66 million in revenue.

Gary Friedman, board chair and chief executive of Restoration Hardware, commented:

Net revenues of $543.4 million and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.44 were well ahead of our guidance for the quarter due to our ability to ship products earlier than anticipated, resulting in a pull forward of revenue and earnings into the second quarter from the third quarter. We remain confident in our outlook for the remainder of fiscal 2016 and are maintaining our net revenue and adjusted diluted EPS guidance for the year.

Friedman added:

As previously communicated, we are making several strategic investments and changes to our business model in fiscal 2016 that are temporarily depressing financial results in the short term, which we believe will strengthen our brand and position the business for accelerated revenue and earnings growth in 2017 and beyond. These temporal issues include the costs related to the launch of RH Modern; the timing of recognizing membership revenues related to the transition from a promotional to a membership model; efforts to reduce inventories and rationalize our SKU count; and the decision to push our Source Book mailing from the Spring to the Fall.

On the books, Restoration Hardware’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $208.5 million, down from $455.6 million in the same period of last year.

Shares of Restoration Hardware were trading up over 9% at $38.56 on Friday, with a consensus analyst price target of $36.92 and a 52-week trading range of $24.75 to $106.49.

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