Five Below Inc (NASDAQ: FIVE) stock rallied over 15.2% on 7th September, 2018 (as of 11:10 AM GMT-4 ; Source: Google finance) after the company beat quarterly earnings expectations, raised its full-year outlook, and reported a same-store sales growth well above estimates. Net income increased by 49.1% to $25.1 million compared to $16.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2017.
FIVE in the second quarter of FY 18 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 45 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 38 cents. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 23 percent to $347.7 million in the second quarter of FY 18, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $335 million. Comparable-store sales increased by 2.7% whereas same-store sales were expected to rise 0.1%, according to FactSet. Comparable sales was driven by an increase in comp average ticket with a slight decrease in comp transactions due to anniversary of the spinner trend from last year. During the second quarter, the company has opened 34 new stores in diverse markets across a range of 17 states. Nine of these stores made it to the top-25 all-time summer grand opening lists. In the first half of 2018, FIVE has opened a total of 67 new stores representing just over half of the planned 125 store openings for 2018. The company has ended the quarter with 692 stores, an increase of a 108 stores or 18.5% versus 584 stores at the end of the second quarter of 2017. Gross profit for the second quarter increased 23.6% to $121.8 million from $98.5 million reported in the second quarter of 2017. Gross margin increased by approximately 20 basis points to 35%. This increase was driven primarily by occupancy cost leverage on the higher sales
For fiscal 2018, the company expects revenue between $1.528 billion and $1.540 billion, based on opening about 125 new stores and assuming a 2.5% to 3% increase in comparable sales. Per-share net income is expected to be between $2.51 and $2.57. The analysts surveyed by FactSet expect earnings of $2.47 a share on sales of $1.520 billion for the year. The analysts surveyed by FactSet expect earnings of $2.47 a share on sales of $1.520 billion for the year. Net income is expected to be in the range of $141.7 million to $144.9 million, with a diluted income per common share of $2.51 to $2.57 on approximately 56.4 million estimated diluted weighted average shares outstanding. In Q3, the company is planning on opening approximately 50 stores.