Burlington Stores, Inc. BURLcommenced fiscal 2018 on an upbeat note posting positive earnings and sales surprises for the second quarter in row. The impressive performance prompted management to lift fiscal 2018 view.
The company delivered adjusted earnings of $1.26 per share that outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.
Net sales of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company came in at $1,518.4 million, increasing 12.8% year over year. The reported figure surpassed the consensus mark of $1,496 million. New and non-comparable stores contributed $82 million to sales. Comparable store sales (comps) rose 4.8% in the quarter.
The company sturdy performance has led the stock to surge 35% in the past six months, comfortably outperforming the industry’s gain 11%.
Gross margin increased about 35 basis points to 41.2% buoyed by improved merchandise margin, partially offset by rise in freight costs. Adjusted operating income increased 26.3% to $119.8 million, while adjusted operating margin (as a percentage of net sales) grew 90 basis points to 7.9%.
Adjusted EBITDA was up 20.5% to $164.9 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin, as a percentage of sales, expanded 70 basis points to 10.9% on account of higher gross margin and expense leverage.