In Thursday trading, shares of Williams-Sonoma Inc. (WSM, Financial) jumped more than 12% after the company reported first-quarter earnings of 67 cents per share on revenue of $1.2 billion. The company managed to beat revenue expectations by $40 million and earnings estimates by 9 cents.
Comparable brand revenue rose 5.5% during the quarter, compared to an increase of 0.1% in the same quarter of 2017. E-commerce net revenues increased 11.3% to $646 million from $581 million in the year-ago quarter. Retail net revenues inched up 4.9% to $557 million from $531 million a year ago.
Further, the operating margin was 5.5%, compared to 5.6% in prior-year quarter. Excluding certain items, it was 6.3%, 200 basis points higher than in the first quarter of 2017.
Moreover, the company repurchased 732,000 shares of common stock for an average price of $51.53 per share. The total cost was approximately $38 million. There is $481 million remaining under the current stock repurchase program.
On the other hand, shares of Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY, Financial) fell on weak first-quarter results. The company reported earnings of 82 cents per share on $9.11 billion in revenue. The company beat revenue expectations by $380 million and earnings estimates by 8 cents.
During the quarter, the company returned a total of $528 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.
Looking ahead to the second quarter, the company expects enterprise revenue between $9.1 billion and $9.2 billion and 3% to 4% growth in enterprise and domestic comparable sales. International comparable sales are projected to increase between 1% and 4%. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share are forecasted to be between 77 cents and 82 cents, representing 12% to 19% growth.
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
