Chicos FAS (CHS) Tops Q4 EPS by 5c; Comps Fell 3.2%
Chicos FAS (NYSE: CHS) reported Q4 EPS of $0.05, $0.05 better than the analyst estimate of $0.00. Revenue for the quarter came in at $627.4 million versus the consensus estimate of $624.99 million.
Comparable Sales
Fifty-Two Weeks Ended | Thirteen Weeks Ended | ||||||||||
January 30, 2016 | January 31, 2015 | January 30, 2016 | January 31, 2015 | ||||||||
Chico's | (2.0) | % | (0.5) | % | (1.7) | % | 1.2 | % | |||
White House Black Market | (2.5) | % | (1.7) | % | (7.4) | % | 5.4 | % | |||
Soma | 3.1 | % | 8.0 | % | 2.1 | % | 13.7 | % | |||
Total Company | (1.5) | % | — | % | (3.2) | % | 4.3 | % | |||
Guidance:
The fiscal 2016 outlook excludes Boston Proper for comparability purposes. The absence of Boston Proper's operational results are expected to benefit fiscal 2016 operating margin by approximately 100 basis points and earnings per share by approximately $0.09.
For the full year of fiscal 2016, the Company is anticipating flat to slightly negative comparable sales, with more opportunity for positive growth in the back half of the year. The Company expects to achieve merchandise margin expansion and slight SG&A leverage, both of which we expect to be offset by a return to targeted levels of incentive compensation, resulting in flat gross margin and SG&A leverage. We anticipate opening approximately 25 stores while closing an additional 50 stores in our efforts to continue our capital allocation and cost reduction initiatives. Total inventory, excluding the impact of in-transit inventory, is expected to remain consistent with 2015 levels.
For earnings history and earnings-related data on Chicos FAS (CHS) click here.