Haverty Furniture (HVT) Slid Post-Q2 Sales Results

Shares of Haverty Furniture Companies Inc. (NYSE:HVT) fell 5.4% yesterday when the company reported its sales report for the second quarter to date, due to soft written comparable sales. Haverty is expected to release its second-quarter sales results on Jul 10.

Haverty stated that sales for the second quarter to date of 2017 are up approximately 1.6% year over year, while comparable store sales are up 0.4%. The company believes that the quarter’s sales will be hurt due to a delay in Easter. Haverty stores remained closed for Easter, which was in April this year versus March last year.

Second quarter to date sales growth is also weaker than the preceding quarter’s recorded figure of 3%. Comparable store sales growth is also way behind the first quarter’s recorded figure of 1.6%.

After adjusting the Easter shift, written comparable store sales for the second quarter to date are up 0.3%, lower than the 4.5% growth reported last year for the full second quarter of 2016. We note that total written sales for the first quarter of 2017 improved 1.0%.

In fact, shares of this retailer of full-service home furnishings have been underperforming the Zacks categorized Retail-Home Furnishings industry and the broader Retail-Wholesale sector for the last three months. The stock moved up 2.8% in comparison to the industry’s growth of 6.5% and sector’s growth of 11.1%. Notably, the industry is part of the bottom 23% of the Zacks Classified industries (204 out of the 256).

Despite sluggish written comparable sales, the Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company remains positive on new launches for the upcoming Jul 4 holiday sales. The company believes that business will benefit as housing strengthens in the region and as the general economy improves.

We also remain encouraged by the solid fundamentals of the company and its solid store expansion plans to strengthen its presence in key markets with additional or repositioned stores. Moreover, the company is making innovations with respect to its technology developments. Also, its shareholder-friendly moves are noteworthy.

Also, the stock exhibits a VGM Score ‘A,’ instilling confidence about its momentum. Moreover, the company has posted an average earnings surprise of 17.4% in the trailing four quarters.

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Haverty Furniture Companies, Inc. Quote

Key Picks

Investors interested in the broader retail space may consider Burlington Stores Inc. (NYSE:BURL) , Canada Goose Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GOOS) and The Children's Place, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCE) .

Children’s Place sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and have long-term earnings growth of 8.0%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Burlington and Canada Goose, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each, have long-term growth rates of 15.9% and 47.0%, respectively.

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