Bath & Body Works shares are up Tuesday morning after the company’s fiscal first-quarter earnings beat expectations.
The retailer posted revenue of nearly $1.4 billion in the first quarter ended April 29, down 4% from a year earlier but in line with expectations. Earnings were $0.35 per share, compared to $0.64 last year and ahead of expectations of $0.26.
Shares of Bath & Body Works added more than 10% to $47.65 just before the opening bell.
"We delivered first-quarter sales in line with our expectations while our EPS was better than anticipated as we saw benefits from our work to improve merchandise margin as well as early benefits from our cost optimization initiatives,” CEO Gina Boswell said in a statement.
Looking ahead, the company reiterated its full-year projection of a mid-single-digit decline in net sales compared to $7.56 billion in 2022. Bath & Body Works expects full-year 2023 earnings per diluted share to be between $2.70 and $3.10, compared to $3.40 in 2022
Second-quarter net sales are projected to decline to the low- to mid-single digits compared to $1.618 billion in the second quarter of 2022, the company said, and earnings are expected to be between $0.27 and $0.32 per share, compared to $0.52.
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