Pedestrians walk in front of a Williams-Sonoma Inc. store in San Francisco, California.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Williams-Sonoma on Wednesday achieved fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ expectations as consumers continue to buy furniture and cookware as they spend more time at home during the coronavirus pandemic.
The company’s share has risen by more than 11% with expanded trading, as the company expects growth to continue in the coming year.
This is what the company ended for the fourth quarter on January 31, compared to what Wall Street analysts expected, using a survey by Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: $ 3.95 adjusted to $ 3.39 expected
- Revenue: $ 2.29 billion versus $ 2.18 billion expected
“In the fourth quarter, despite shipping constraints and low retail traffic, we delivered another quarter of faster revenue and profitability with growth of 26% and more than 85% earnings per share,” Laura said. Alber, president and CEO of Williams-Sonoma, said in a press release. .
Net income a year earlier had risen to $ 309 million, or $ 3.92 per share, from $ 166 million, or $ 2.10 per share.
Excluded items earned Williams-Sonoma $ 3.95 per share, above the $ 3.39 per share expected by analysts interviewed by Refinitiv.
Revenue rose 24% to $ 2.29 billion from $ 1.84 billion a year ago, beating expectations of $ 2.18 billion.
The growth was boosted by a 47.9% increase in e-commerce revenue, with about 70% of its total revenue from its e-commerce business.
Sales of the same store for the entire company increased by 25.7% in the last quarter, and all its brands made double-digit profits.
Its namesake brand, Williams-Sonoma, increased by 26.2% in sales in the same store. Both Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids and Teen reported a 25.7% increase in sales in the same store. West Elm was now behind with a 25.2% increase in the same store.
For the 2021 financial year, the trader expects the retail traffic to recover and the stock levels to improve.
The company said it expects its performance to be in line with its long-term financial targets, which require medium-to-high single-digit growth.
Although the business has been helped because consumers ate more meals at home and decorated their homes during the health crisis, Alber expects his business to continue to get a boost from favorable macro trends that will support the business in the long run. Among the factors she mentioned were high consumer confidence, a strong housing market, a shift to e-commerce and the expectation that people will work more and more time at home in the future.
Williams-Sonoma said it would increase its dividend by 11.3% to 59 cents a share. Meanwhile, the board has approved plans to buy back $ 1 billion. The new repurchase plan replaces its prior authorization and will take effect on March 17.
Read the full income release here.