Bed Bath & Beyond Stumbles Over Earnings

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) reported fiscal second-quarter financial results after the markets closed. The company said that it had $1.11 in earnings per share (EPS) on $2.99 billion in revenue. There were consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $1.16 in EPS on $3.05 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had $1.21 in EPS on $3.00 billion in revenue.

Comparable sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2016 decreased by approximately 1.2%, compared with an increase of about 0.7% in last year’s fiscal second 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 second quarter of fiscal 2016.

In terms of the guidance for fiscal 2016, the company expects to have EPS in the range of $4.50 to $5.00, which compares to the consensus estimate of $4.83 in EPS.

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The board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, to be paid on January 17, 2017, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on December 16, 2016.

Also the company repurchased roughly $121 million of its common stock under its existing $2.5 billion share repurchase program. There is $2.0 billion remaining under the plan which is expected to be completed in the latter half of fiscal 2019 or fiscal 2020.

On the books, cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investment securities totaled $577.84 million at the end of the quarter, versus $696.4 million in the same period from last year.

Shares closed Wednesday at $43.11, with a consensus analyst price target of $43.42 and a 52-week trading range of $41.15 to $61.90. Following the release of the earnings report, the stock was down 1% at $42.69 in the after-hours trading session.

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