Bed Bath & Beyond Results Miss Estimates; Cuts Outlook

(RTTNews) - Home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) said Wednesday after the markets closed that its third quarter profit rose a modest 1.9% from last year, as higher costs and expenses dented a 6% sales growth.

The company's quarterly earnings per share also came in below analysts' expectations as did its quarterly sales. At the same time, the company cut its fourth quarter and full year earnings outlook.

Bed Bath & Beyond shares are currently losing 8.95% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $79.68, up 47 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $54.62 to $80.82.

The Union, New Jersey-based company operates a chain of retail stores under the names of Bed Bath & Beyond, World Market, Cost Plus World Market, World Market Stores, Christmas Tree Shops, andThat!, Harmon, Harmon Face Values and buybuy BABY, selling a wide assortment of domestics merchandise and home furnishings.

The company has generated impressive sales growth in recent quarters, but its bottom line has been dented by higher costs and expenses.

For the third quarter ended November 30, 2013, the company reported net income of $237.2 million or $1.12 per share, compared to $232.8 million or $1.03 per share for the year-ago quarter.

On average, 24 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $1.15 per share for the third quarter.

For the third quarter, the company had forecast earnings of $1.11 to $1.16 per share.

Net sales for the third quarter rose 6% to $2.87 billion from $2.70 billion in the same quarter last year. Same-store sales for quarter increased about 1.3% Twenty analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $2.89 billion for the third quarter.

During the third quarter, the company repurchased about 2.3 million shares of its common stock for about $171 million. As of November 30, the remaining balance of the existing share repurchase program authorized in December 2012 was about $1.7 billion.

Looking forward, the company lowered its fourth quarter earnings outlook to a range of $1.60 to $1.67 per share from its prior outlook of $1.70 to $1.77 per share.

Similarly, the company now expects full year fiscal 2013 earnings to be $4.79 to $4.86 per share, down from its prior expectations of $4.88 to $5.01 per share.

Analysts currently expect the company to earn $1.78 per share for the fourth quarter and $5.01 per share for the full year.