Upcoming AWS Coverage on American Eagle Outfitters Post-Earnings Results
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / November 29, 2016 / Active Wall St. announces its post-earnings coverage on Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST). The company released its third quarter fiscal 2016 (Q3 FY16) earnings on November 17, 2016. The Dublin, California-based company's sales and diluted EPS rose 11% and 17% y-o-y, respectively, in the reported period. Register with us now for your free membership at: http://www.activewallst.com/register/.
One of Ross Stores' competitors within the Apparel Stores space, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO), will broadcast its conference call live over the Internet on Wednesday, November 30, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. ET. AWS will be initiating a research report on American Eagle Outfitters in the coming days.
Today, AWS is promoting its earnings coverage on ROST; touching on AEO. Get our free coverage by signing up to:
http://www.activewallst.com/registration-3/?symbol=ROST
http://www.activewallst.com/registration-3/?symbol=AEO
Earnings Reviewed
In Q3 FY16, Ross Stores reported sales of $3.09 billion compared to $2.78 billion in Q3 FY15. Sales number for the reported quarter outperformed market expectations of $2.96 billion. In Q3 FY16, comparable stores sales growth was 7% versus a 3% gain in last year's same quarter. The comparable store sales growth was driven by increase in both traffic and the size of the average basket.
The off-price apparel stores retailer reported net earnings of $244.55 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, in Q3 FY16 compared to $215.66 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, in the prior year's comparable quarter. Wall Street had expected the company to report Q3 FY16 net earnings of $0.56 per diluted share.
Barbara Rentler, Chief Executive Officer of Ross Stores Inc., commented:
"We are very pleased with our better-than-expected sales and earnings growth in the third quarter as customers responded favorably to the compelling values we offered throughout our stores."
During Q3 FY16, the company completed its FY16 store opening program, adding 25 new Ross and nine dd's DISCOUNTS stores. Furthermore, the company intends to end FY16 with 1,338 Ross and 192 dd's DISCOUNTS stores, an increase of 84 locations for the year.
Operating Metrics
In the three months ended October 29, 2016, Ross Stores reported selling, general, and administrative expenses of $490.17 million versus $443.35 million in the previous year's comparable quarter. For Q3 FY16, the company's operating margin came in at 12.6% of sales which was above the company's expectation. For Q3 FY16, earnings before interest and taxes were $386.27 million up from $331.73 million recorded in the year ago period.
Cash Flow and Balance Sheet
In the nine months ended October 29, 2016, net cash provided by operating activities increased to $1.03 billion from $762.03 million in the first three quarters of FY15. As on October 29, 2016, the company had $878.81 million in cash and cash equivalents compared to a balance of $485.70 million as on October 31, 2015. Furthermore, the company reported long-term debt of $396.38 million in its books of accounts as on October 29, 2016, compared to $395.91 million as on October 31, 2015.
Dividends and Share Repurchases
In a separate press release on November 16, 2016, Ross Stores' Board of Directors announced a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.135 per common share. The dividend is payable on December 30, 2016, to stockholders of record at the close of business on December 07, 2016.
During Q3 FY16, Ross Stores repurchased 2.8 million shares worth $550 million, under its share repurchase program. In the first nine months of FY16, the company bought back a total of 9.1 million shares of common stock for $530 million. Furthermore, the company is on track to buy back a total of $700 million in common stock in FY16 to complete the two-year $1.4 billion share repurchase authorization approved by its Board of Directors in February 2015.
Earnings Outlook
Ross Stores has reaffirmed its Q4 FY16 comparable sales growth guidance of 1% to 2%, compared to 6% and 4% gains in FY14 and FY15, respectively. For Q4 FY16, earnings are expected to be in the range of $0.72 per share to $0.75 per share, up from $0.66 in Q4 FY15. The company updated its full-year FY16 earnings guidance and now expects it to be in the range of $2.78 per share to $2.81 per share, up 11% to 12% on top of a 14% gain in the last year comparable period.
Stock Performance
Ross Stores' share price finished yesterday's trading session at $68.36, slightly down 0.98%. A total volume of 2.66 million shares exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3 months average volume of 2.54 million shares. The stock has rallied 28.62% and 31.02% in the last six months and past twelve months, respectively. Furthermore, since the start of the year, shares of the company have surged 27.94%. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 25.13 and has a dividend yield of 0.79%.
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