Is At Home Group Earnings Miss Way Overblown?

June 6, 2019 by Chris Lange

When At Home Group Inc. (NYSE: HOME) reported its fiscal first-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Thursday, the firm posted $0.03 in earnings per share (EPS) and $306.3 million in revenue. That compares with consensus estimates of $0.04 in EPS and $303.27 million in revenue, as well as the $0.28 per share and $256.16 million posted in the same period of last year.

During the most recent quarter, net sales increased 19.6% year over year, driven by a net increase in open stores. At the same time, comparable store sales decreased 0.8%, primarily due to adverse weather conditions.

At Home opened 11 new stores in the first quarter and ended the period with a total of 191 stores. The firm has added a net 35 stores in the past 12 months, representing a 22.4% increase.

Looking ahead to the fiscal second quarter, the company expects to see EPS in the range of $0.14 to $0.17 and sales between $340 million and $345 million. Consensus estimates call for $1.03 in EPS and $1.4 billion in revenue for the full fiscal year.

Lee Bird, board chair and chief executive, commented:

It was a challenging first quarter as we faced unusually adverse weather across a majority of our markets, resulting in comparable store sales below our expectations. However, favorability in new store weeks and the solid productivity of our non-comp stores enabled us to deliver nearly 20% net sales growth and adjusted earnings per share at the low end of our outlook range. Because of the challenging weather, we have already taken swift markdown actions in order to sell through the necessary product at lower than expected margins and head into the fall in a cleaner inventory position.

Shares of At Home traded down 48% to $9.13 on Thursday. The 52-week range is $8.92 to $40.97, and the consensus price target is $26.09.


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