Wednesday, retail farm and ranch stores operator Tractor Supply Co. (TSCO) reported a 39% increase in profit for the third quarter compared to last year. The company also provided guidance for the full year.
Tractor's net income for the quarter increased to $22.0 million or $0.60 per share, compared with $15.9 million or $0.43 per share in the year-ago period.
On average, 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.59 per share. Analysts' estimate typically excludes one-time items.
The Brentwood, Tennessee-based company's net sales for the third quarter increased 1.9% to $747.7 million from $733.9 million in the year-ago period. Analysts estimated revenues of $749.30 million for the quarter.
Same-store sales decreased 5.1% compared with an increase of 6.2% in the prior-year quarter third quarter, primarily affected by softness in sales of seasonal big-ticket items and difficult comparisons due to strong sales of hurricane-related merchandise and seasonal heating products in the prior year's quarter.
Gross margin for the quarter increased 12.8% to $246.0 million from $218.2 million in the year-ago period primarily due to a decrease in the LIFO charge, lower fuel costs and effective markdown management.
Selling, general & administrative expenses for the quarter increased 9.4% to $210.2 million from $192.1 million in the prior year.
For the first nine months, Tractor's net income increased to $77.21 million or $2.11 per share from $57.21 million or $1.52 per share last year. Net sales increased 6.2% to $2.34 billion from $2.20 billion in the prior-year.
Looking ahead, the company anticipates net income for the full year to range from $2.88 to $2.98 per share on net sales between $3.17 billion and $3.20 billion. Same-store sales for the year is expected to decrease approximately 1.0% to 2.0%.
Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $2.98 per share on revenues of $3.19 billion for the full year.
Tractor Supply last traded at $50.96, down $1.71 or 3.25%, on a volume of 0.48 million shares on the Nasdaq.
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