Kirkland's (KIRK) Tops Q4 EPS by 9c

Kirkland's (NASDAQ: KIRK) reported Q4 EPS of $1.40, $0.09 better than the analyst estimate of $1.31. Revenue for the quarter came in at $194.92 million versus the consensus estimate of $195 million.

Fourth Quarter 2020 Financial Highlights:

• Net sales decreased 6.9% to $194.9 million, with 59 fewer stores; comparable sales increased 1.8%, including e-commerce growth of 35.5%
• Gross profit margin of 37.7% compared with 29.8% in the prior year, an increase of 790 basis points, or $11.0 million
• Operating expenses of 23.5% of net sales compared with 32.3% in the prior year; excluding impairments a reduction of 330 basis points, or $10.3 million
• Earnings per diluted share of $1.36 compared with loss per diluted share of $0.35 in the prior year period
• Adjusted earnings per diluted share of $1.40 compared with $0.62 in the prior year
• EBITDA of $33.3 million compared with $1.4 million in the prior year; adjusted EBITDA of $34.0 million, or 17.4% of net sales, compared with $16.9 million in the prior year, an improvement of $17.1 million
• Operating income of $27.7 million compared with an operating loss of $5.2 million in the prior year; adjusted operating income of $28.4 million, or 14.6% of net sales, compared with $10.4 million in the prior year, an improvement of $18.0 million
• Cash balance of $100.3 million with no outstanding debt; total liquidity of $139.8 million - Store count at quarter end was 373 stores, with 8 additional stores closed in the quarter

"We are pleased to report record earnings for the fourth quarter, which reflect the appeal of our merchandise assortments with customers and the earnings leverage in the business from our cost and infrastructure changes," noted Woody Woodward, Chief Executive Officer. "This has been a year filled with challenges as a company, as individuals and as a nation. I am proud of how Kirkland's team members embraced the reinvention and innovation required of us during the pandemic. Their commitment to our customers and to one another during this period is inspiring and affirming. Their diligence also provides us the confidence that we can achieve our vision for Kirkland's and execute on our strategic priorities and financial goals. We are ahead of where we expected to be when we originally outlined these goals a year ago and the results speak for themselves, but we have more work ahead of us to accomplish all that is possible at Kirkland's. We are energized by these opportunities for continued improvement."

Mr. Woodward continued, "We continue to carefully, deliberately and strategically evolve Kirkland's into a value-oriented specialty retailer. Our strategy has been to incrementally improve the quality and design of our merchandise while maintaining our opening price points and delivering value for our customers. Merchandising will be front and center again for us in 2021, along with leveraging the improvements in infrastructure and operating costs and accelerating our ongoing digital transformation. With total liquidity of $140 million at year end, we are well positioned to fund the evolution of Kirkland's."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Kirkland's (KIRK) click here.

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