Shares of Williams-Sonoma jumped to a new high on Thursday after the household goods retailer achieved better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter.
The company’s e-commerce business has played a key role in the growing sales to fill in lost business in physical stores. But CEO Laura Alber expects a strong recovery in brick-and-mortar sales as the U.S. economy emerges from the pandemic.
“The store traffic is coming back,” she said on CNBC’s “Mad Money.” “I think people do not realize the advantage we have in retail.”
Williams-Sonoma, which is known for selling kitchen products, generated $ 2.3 billion in revenue in the most recent quarter to January 31. This was the third consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth, following a drop in sales early last year when the Covid-19 livestock closures went into effect.
The San Francisco-based retailer also reported annual results for the 2021 fiscal year. Despite interruptions in the pandemic era, the company had its best year of growth in nearly two decades.
Online sales grew by 45% during the financial year, compared to a 24% drop in personal sales. Alber nevertheless said the company would not give up its brick-and-mortar strategy.
“We’re talking about e-commerce, and that’s going to be our growth, but this retail recovery is also a big part of the story,” she said.
Shares of Williams-Sonoma rose 18.46% on Thursday to $ 161.57.