What Happened?
Shares of kitchenware and home goods retailer Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) jumped 30.5% in the afternoon session after the company reported impressive third-quarter results. Revenue beat slightly, and gross margin improved relative to the previous year, enabling the company to deliver a solid earnings beat. The rate of growth decline has moderated relative to the previous year as the company observed improved sales trends and market-share gains. Given the improved momentum and optimistic trends, management raised full-year revenue and operating profit guidance. The Board of Directors also approved a new $1 billion stock repurchase program to demonstrate the company's focus on returning value to shareholders. Overall, we think this was a strong quarter.
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What The Market Is Telling Us
Williams-Sonoma’s shares are quite volatile and have had 17 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Williams-Sonoma and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 8 months ago when the stock gained 19.1% on the news that the company reported strong fourth-quarter results, with revenue and EPS exceeding Wall Street's expectations. Management noted that although 2023 was the slowest housing market in several decades, it avoided discounting, enabling it to deliver an operating margin ahead of its pre-pandemic profitability. Revenue outperformance was driven by better-than-expected same-store sales at its flagship Williams Sonoma brand (1.6% growth vs estimates of negative 0.5%) and Pottery Barn (negative 9.6% vs estimates of negative 10.3%). The revenue and gross margin beats also led to an EPS beat, and management increased the company's quarterly dividend by 26% and share repurchase capacity to $1 billion. In addition, the company's board approved a new $1 billion stock repurchase program. Zooming out, this was a great quarter that shareholders will appreciate.
Williams-Sonoma is up 72.4% since the beginning of the year, and at $174.83 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Williams-Sonoma’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $5,097.
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