Ross Stores, Inc. ROST released its fourth-quarter and full year 2017 financial results, posting adjusted earnings of $0.98 per share and revenues of $4.07 billion. Currently, Ross Stores is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and is down nearly 3% to $78 per share in after-hours trading shortly after its earnings report was released.
ROST:
Beat earnings estimates . The company posted adjusted earnings of $0.98 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.93 per share. Unadjusted earnings were $1.19 per share, which includes a $0.10 per share benefit from the 53rd week and another $0.21 from the new Republican tax law.
Beat revenue estimates . The company saw revenue figures of $4.07 billion, topping our consensus estimate of $3.95 billion.
Ross Stores revenues jumped from $3.51 billion in the year-ago period. Ross' board also approved both an increase in the stock repurchase authorization for 2018 to $1.08 billion and a higher quarterly cash dividend of $0.225 per share.
Looking ahead, the company now expects to post fiscal 2018 same-store sales growth between 1% and 2%. Ross also expects to report full-year 2018 earnings per share between $3.86 and $4.03.
"Fourth quarter operating margin grew 95 basis points to 14.6%, up from 13.6% in the prior year," CEO Barbara Rentler said in a statement. "This improvement was driven by a combination of strong merchandise margin, expense leverage from solid gains in same store sales, and the impact of the 53rd week."
Here's a graph that looks at ROST's Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise history:
Ross Stores, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Ross Stores, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Ross Stores, Inc. Quote
Ross Stores, Inc. is a company headquartered in Dublin, California, operates Ross Dress for Less (Ross), the largest off-price apparel and home fashion chain in the United States, the District of Columbia and Guam. Ross offers first-quality, in-season, name brand and designer apparel, accessories, footwear and home fashions for the entire family at savings of 20% to 60% off department and specialty store regular prices every day.
Check back later for our full analysis on ROST's earnings report!
(NOTE: We are re-issuing this article to correct a mistake. The original version, posted yesterday, March 6, 2018, should no longer be relied upon.)
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
