Bed Bath & Beyond Results Miss Estimate; Outlook Weak

(RTTNews) - Home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) said Wednesday after the markets closed that its first quarter profit fell 8% from last year, as higher costs and expenses more than offset a slight increase in sales.

The company's quarterly earnings per share also came in below analysts' expectations as did its quarterly sales. At the same time, the company forecast second quarter earnings below analysts' current consensus estimate.

Bed Bath & Beyond shares are currently losing 7.27% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $61.11, up 47 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $59.89 to $80.82.

The Union, New Jersey-based company operates a chain of retail stores under the names of Bed Bath & Beyond, World Market, Cost Plus World Market, World Market Stores, Christmas Tree Shops, andThat!, Harmon, Harmon Face Values and buybuy BABY, selling a wide assortment of domestics merchandise and home furnishings. As of May 31, 2014, the company had a total of 1,500 stores, including 1,015 Bed Bath & Beyond stores.

For the first quarter ended May 31, 2014, the company reported net income of $187.1 million or $0.93 per share, compared to $202.5 million or $0.93 per share for the year-ago quarter.

On average, 25 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.94 per share for the first quarter.

Net sales for the first quarter rose 1.7% to $2.66 billion from $2.61 billion in the same quarter last year. Same-store sales grew 0.4% in the first quarter. Twenty-one analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $2.69 billion for the first quarter.

During the first quarter, the company repurchased about 4.2 million shares of its common stock for about $273 million. As of May 31, the remaining balance of the existing share repurchase program authorized in December 2012 was about $861 million.

Looking forward, the company forecasts second quarter earnings of $1.08 to $1.16 per share. The company also said it continues to expect full year fiscal 2014 earnings per share to increase by a mid-single digit percentage.

Analysts currently expect the company to earn $1.20 per share for the second quarter and $5.05 per share for the fiscal year 2014.