Five Below (FIVE) Holiday Comps Increase 0.5%, Offers Q4 Guidance

Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE) (“Five Below” or the “Company”) today announced net sales results for the quarter-to-date period from October 30, 2016 through January 7, 2017 ("Holiday Period") and updated guidance for its fourth quarter and full year for fiscal 2016 ending January 28, 2017.

The Company announced that net sales for the Holiday Period, which includes New Year’s Day in both periods, increased by 18.0% to $349.3 million from $296.2 million in the comparable fiscal week period of 2015. Comparable sales for the Holiday Period increased by 0.5%.

Joel Anderson, CEO of Five Below, stated: "After a solid start to the holiday season, we experienced softness in mid-December, including Super Saturday, with sales accelerating later in the holiday season. We had strong performance in our tech and room categories that were not up against the strong license and trend-driven comparisons from last year, as well as good performance in markets where we ran TV for the first time. In addition, our new 2016 stores continue to perform well and are on track to be one of our strongest classes ever."

Mr. Anderson added, “Given our holiday performance, we are updating our outlook for the full year 2016 and now expect sales growth of 20% and EPS growth of 22% to 23%. We remain committed to delivering on our goals of 20% top line and 20% bottom line growth through 2020, and we look forward to discussing 2016 and our outlook for 2017 on our fourth quarter earnings call in March.”

Based on the quarter-to-date performance, the Company updated its guidance for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2016. For the fourth quarter, net sales are now expected to be in the range of $386 million to $388 million, or growth of 18% to 19% assuming a comparable sales increase of approximately 1%. Diluted income per common share for the fourth quarter is expected to be in the range of $0.88 to $0.89, or approximately 14% to 16% growth.

(Streets sees Q4 sales of $393.6M)

For the full year fiscal 2016, net sales are now expected to be in the range of $998 million to $1,000 million, or growth of 20% assuming a comparable sales increase of approximately 2%. Diluted income per common share for fiscal 2016 is expected to be in the range of $1.28 to $1.29, or approximately 22% to 23% growth.

The Company also announced that management will participate in the 19th Annual ICR Conference held at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida. Management is currently scheduled to conduct a fireside chat on Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The fireside chat will be webcast live at http://investor.fivebelow.com/. An archived replay will be available two hours after the conclusion of the live event.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Tesla touts acceleration of new models, but Q1 results fall short of estimates
• Retail Opportunity Investments (ROIC) Tops Q1 EPS by 2c, reaffirms guidance
• Steel Dynamics (STLD) Tops Q1 EPS by 16c