Bed Bath & Beyond Stock Down Following Poor Earnings Report
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY) saw its shares drop 2.3% in after-hours trading following a 1.4% loss on Wednesday, as the company’s Q3 report falls short of expectations.
BBBY stock had an unpleasant Wednesday morning and evening. The Bed Bath & Beyond earnings report came in, showing that comparable-store sales dropped 1.4% during the most recent period, while analysts surveyed by FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS) had projected a 0.5% growth. (Source: “Bed Bath & Beyond Stock Falls in After-Hours Trading as 3Q Results Miss Expectations,” The Street, December 21, 2016.)
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And slowed growth wasn’t the only low point for BBBY stock; Wall Street’s estimates of $0.98 per share proved off the mark, as earnings came in a fair bit lower, at $0.85 per share. Revenue, however, did pop up a hair by 0.1% to $2.96 billion from last year, but fell short of analysts’ estimates of $3.01 billion.
And the rest of the 2016 doesn’t look to be shaping up in BBBY stock’s favor either. The company sees the year’s earnings per share (EPS) at the low end of the prior guidance range of $4.50 to “just over” $5.00. Analysts, meanwhile, are expecting earnings of $4.37 per share for the full year, according to FactSet.
One bright spot from the third-quarter earnings report was the increase in the company’s digital presence. BBBY stock saw its digital channel comparable sales rise more than 20%, while brick-and-mortar locations declined in the low single-digit percentage range during the most recent quarter.
Over 4.53 million of the company’s shares changed hands on Wednesday, compared to its average 30-day volume of 2.51 million shares, speaking to the effect of the lower-than-expected third-quarter results.
The year has seen a number of spikes and troughs for BBBY stock, with 2016 culminating in a 5.6% loss for the company. Investors would do well to be watchful of BBBY stock moving into 2017, to see whether the shares will turn around, or whether this might be the beginning of a steeper decline.
