24/7 Wall St.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) reported its fiscal third-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Thursday. The company had earnings per share (EPS) of $1.09 on $2.95 billion in revenue, which compares to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters for $1.09 in EPS on $2.97 billion in revenue. In the same period of the previous year, the domestics retailer posted $1.19 in EPS and revenue of $2.94 billion.

Comparable sales on a constant currency basis were relatively flat for the third quarter of fiscal 2015. Comparable sales from customer-facing digital channels grew in excess of 25%, while comparable sales from stores declined in the low single-digit percentage range during the third quarter of fiscal 2015.

Also during the most recent quarter, Bed Bath & Beyond repurchased approximately $194 million of its common stock. The remaining balance of the current $2.0 billion share repurchase program was approximately $110 million.

The company expects comparable sales for the fiscal fourth quarter to be either flat or increase by 2%. At the same time, the company expects EPS to be in the range of $1.72 to $1.86. Consensus estimates call for $1.85 in EPS on $3.40 billion in revenue.
[ims_survey]
On the books, the company had cash and cash equivalents totaling $490.74 million at the end of the fiscal third quarter.

Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond closed Thursday down 1.1% at $46.51, with a consensus analyst price target of $57.70 and a 52-week trading range of $46.37 to $79.64. Following the release of the earnings report, the stock was up in the after-hours about 1.1% at $47.00.