Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL) saw its shares surge more than 12% in premarket trading Thursday after the department store retailer reported better-than-anticipated Q1 results and issued optimistic guidance for the full fiscal 2025.
The company posted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.42, topping the consensus estimates of $1.05. Revenue came in at $2.36 billion, also above the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion.
Comparable sales increased by 2%, compared to 4% year-over-year, and exceeded the estimate of 1.51%.
The gross margin rose to 43.5% from 42.3% year-over-year, also topping the consensus projection of 43.3%.
For the fiscal 2025, Burlington Stores projects EPS to be in the range of $7.35 to $7.75, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.45. This represents an 18% to 24% increase over FY23 on a 52-week basis.
“We are very pleased with how our sales trends developed in the first quarter. The quarter got off to a slow start in February, likely due to disruptive weather and delayed tax refunds, but then our sales trend picked up,” said Michael O’Sullivan, CEO of Burlington Stores.
“Looking to the balance of 2024, we remain confident in the outlook for our business. Based on our first quarter performance, we are increasing our margin and earnings guidance for the year. Nevertheless, there continues to be a lot of uncertainty in the external environment.”