Home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings results Wednesday after the market's close. Wall Street analysts are projecting a decline in profit for the quarter, despite a slight increase in net sales. According to media reports, Bed, Bath & Beyond in April had said that it was comfortable with earnings projections of $0.23 to $0.24 per share for the first quarter.
On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $0.25 per share for the quarter, with estimates ranging between $0.23 and $0.28 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Net sales for the quarter are estimated to be $1.68 billion, representing a year-over-year growth of 2%.
In the same period a year ago, Bed Bath & Beyond, an S&P 500, NASDAQ-100, and a Fortune 500 company, had reported net earnings of $76.8 million or $0.30 per share on net sales of $1.648 billion, with a 0.8% rise in comparable store sales.
This was the first full quarter for the retailer without competition from rival Linens N Things, which closed up the last of its 600 stores following a bankruptcy filing in 2008. However, Bed Bath & Beyond is now facing stiff competition from Target Corp. (TGT) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), who have been benefiting from budget-conscious shoppers swapping to trade down for less pricey products.
The impact of economic crisis over the customers are still ongoing, and according to the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. sales at furniture and home furnishings stores fell more than 14% from a year earlier each month from March through May.
In the preceding fourth quarter, Bed Bath & Beyond had reported a year-over-year decline in profit to $141.4 million or $0.55 per share, hurt by worsening economic conditions that resulted in about 4.3% fall in comparable store sales, while net sales edged down 0.5% to $1.923 billion.
Founded in 1971 and based in Union, New Jersey, Bed Bath & Beyond had a total of 1,037 stores as of February 28, 2009, including 930 Bed Bath & Beyond stores, 52 Christmas Tree Shops stores, 15 buybuy BABY stores, and 40 stores under the names of Harmon and Harmon Face Values.
Among others in the sector, general merchandise and discount retailer Target, on May 20, reported a 13.4% year-over-year decline in first-quarter profit to $522 million or $0.69 per share, hurt by the slowdown in consumer spending. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company's total revenues for the quarter increased 0.2% to $14.83 billion, while comparable store sales declined 3.7%.
Target is slated to release its second-quarter results on August 18. Analysts project earnings of $0.64 per share on net sales of $15.35 billion, both lower than prior year's reported earnings and net sales of $0.82 per share and $15.47 billion, respectively. The company recently reported a 6.1% decline in comparable store sales for the month of May, while net sales for the month decreased 2.3% to $4.46 billion. Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores in mid-May reported net income for the first quarter of $3.02 billion or $0.77 per share, compared to net income $3.02 billion or $0.76 per share in the prior year quarter, as a stronger dollar weighed on the company's international sales. Quarterly revenues declined to $94.2 billion from last year's $94.9 billion, and net sales, excluding the negative impact of currency exchange rates, increased 4.5%.
For the second quarter, of which the results will be announced on August 13, Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart expects earnings from continuing operations between $0.83 and $0.88 per share. Analysts are looking for earnings of $0.86 per share for the second quarter on revenues of $102.99 billion. BBBY is currently trading at $27.69, down $0.05 or 0.14%, on a volume of 272K shares. In the past 52 weeks, shares have been trading in a broad range of $16.23 - $34.00.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.