Bed Bath & Beyond tumbles 15% as store closures weigh on quarterly sales
- Bed Bath & Beyond shares lost as much as 15% on Wednesday following mixed first-quarter results from the house goods seller.
- First-quarter sales of $2.62 billion slightly missed Wall Street's consensus estimate of $2.63 billion.
- The retailer reaffirmed its sales outlook for fiscal 2021.
Bed Bath & Beyond shares were knocked sharply lower Wednesday after first-quarter sales results from the housewares retailer fell short of Wall Street's target.
The company on Wednesday posted quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.40 per share, higher than the analyst consensus estimate of $0.41 per share from Refinitiv and up from $0.38 per share a year earlier.
Sales for the quarter ended Feb. 29 fell by 16% to $2.62 billion from $3.11 billion a year ago, slightly missing the $2.63 billion that Wall Street had anticipated.
Shares fell as much as 15% to $23.68 in heavy volume before the losses were pared to 10% during the session. The company's stock has soared over the past year from about $4 each.
Bed Bath & Beyond, which is executing a turnaround plan, said quarterly sales were hurt in part by divestitures and permanent store closures. Bed Bath & Beyond in January sold Cost Plus World Market to private equity firm Kingswood Capital Management and in November completed the sale of Christmas Tree Shops and its institutional Linen Holdings business.
First-quarter comparable store sales decreased 20%, the company said. Total enterprise same-store sales rose by 4% while online sales surged by 86%. The company said its strongest categories during the period included bedding, bath and kitchen food preparation.
The company reaffirmed its fiscal 2021 outlook for net sales of $8 billion to $8.2 billion and its adjusted EBITDA guidance of $500 billion to $525 million.
"As our transformation continues to take hold, we will show up differently for our customers with enhanced omnichannel experiences and modern stores," among other actions, said Mark Tritton, Bed Bath & Beyond's president and CEO, in the earnings statement.