By Senad Karaahmetovic
Shares of BJ’s Wholesale (NYSE:BJ) are trading nearly 5% higher in pre-market Thursday after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results and gave an upbeat forecast.
BJ reported adjusted EPS of $1.00 per share to beat the consensus of $0.86. Revenue increased by 13% year-over-year (YoY) to $4.93 billion, ahead of the average analyst estimate of $4.78B.
Comparable sales, excluding gas, rose 8.7%. Analysts were looking for a 5.3% increase. Another positive is that inventories jumped 11% to $1.38B, better than the expected $1.45B.
“Our membership base is stronger than ever with our tenured renewal rate reaching an all-time high of 90%. Our continued focus on value has driven traffic and market share gains all year,” said Bob Eddy, president and chief executive officer, BJ’s Wholesale Club.
BJ also introduced an FY23 outlook. Comparable sales are seen rising 4-5% YoY while EPS is expected to remain flat, which suggests $3.92. Analysts were looking for 2.8% and $3.84, respectively.
“We look ahead to fiscal 2023 with the understanding that there is still significant uncertainty in the macroeconomic backdrop as well as its influence on the U.S. consumer,” said Laura Felice, executive vice president, chief financial officer, BJ’s Wholesale Club.
The company also detailed long-term financial targets, including comparable sales growing low-to-mid single digit percent, revenue growth of mid-single digit percent, and EPS growth of high-single to low-double digit percent.