Shares in Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) slumped by 7% after the U.S. department store revealed via a conference call that a shift in the scheduling of a friends and family event boosted its first-quarter comparable sales figures.
After surging in pre-market trade, Kohl's shares drifted backward in the wake of its morning earnings call to hover at US$60.86.
Indeed, the news that a friends and family event pushed up Kohl's growth in same-store sales to 3.6% spooked investors, who applauded Kohl's earlier for crushing Wall Street's expectations in its fiscal first quarter.
On the whole, Kohl's results were solid as the department store whizzed past market estimates by posting earnings of US$0.64 per share on revenue of US$4.2bn. The consensus estimate was for US$0.49 per share on revenue of US$4bn.
“We exceeded the high end of our margin expectations through continued focus on inventory management, while expenses were consistent with our expectations as we continue to make investments to ensure our long-term success,” said Michelle Gass, Kohl’s chief executive, in a statement.
The retailer has also reaped the benefits of last year’s partnership with the e-commerce giant Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN). Shoppers can buy Amazon Echo devices, Fire tablets and other Amazon gadgets at Kohl’s stores.
Read: Kohls becomes the latest bricks-and-mortar retailer to partner up with Amazon
The retailer, which will pay a quarterly dividend on June 27 of US$0.61 per share, has more than 1,100 stores across 49 states.
The company has also boosted its fiscal full-year adjusted earnings per share to a range of US$5.05 - US$5.50, which is in line with the market estimate of US$5.25 per share.