FDO

What a Week in Retail: Some Good, Mostly Bad

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The week ending January 10 brought a plethora of news that confirmed our fears: promotional activity during the shortened holiday shopping season of 2013 wasn’t just bad, it was cutthroat. Many retailers were left unable to recover from the ice and winter storms that ravaged much of the US during December/early January. Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY) Five Below (FIVE), Pacific Sunwear (PSUN), Sears (SHLD) and Zumiez (ZUMZ) all revealed difficult performance during the period. The variant business models of the aforementioned retailers suggest weakness was widespread. Surprisingly, even discount retailing giant Family Dollar (FDO) wasn’t able to lower prices enough to keep customers in the stores. No category seemed to be spared. Needless to say, we’re not expecting much … Read more

Surveying the Retail Landscape: Dollar General, Kroger, and Costco

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On Thursday, Dollar General (DG), Kroger (KR) and Costco (COST) reported quarterly results. Dollar General’s third-quarter report showed same-store sales advancing 4.4%, which propelled total sales 10.5% higher during its third quarter (ending November 1). Kroger’s third-quarter report showed 3.5% identical supermarket sales growth, without fuel, during the period ending November 9, while Costco’s fiscal first-quarter results (ending December 1) revealed same-store sales expansion of 3% during the quarter. Dollar General’s quarterly performance not only bested that of Kroger and Costco, but it also stood head-and-shoulders above that of Wal-Mart (WMT), which reported a comparable store sales decline in Walmart US and only a 1.1% increase at Sam’s club, and Target’s (TGT) third-quarter performance, where US comparable store sales advanced only … Read more

Surveying 3Q Performance Across the Retail Spectrum

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Sears There’s not much to say about Sears’ (SHLD) operational performance during its third quarter (results issued Thursday), except that it was atrocious. The firm lost more money in the most recently-reported quarter ($534 million) than it did through the first nine months of last fiscal year ($441 million). CEO Eddie Lampert has his hands full with the company’s multi-year transformation, but we think investors are hanging on to shares largely on hopes the firm will be able to monetize its real-estate portfolio in the future. Image Source: Sears But it seems that (lately) too many investors have been buying into this line of thinking, and the ‘real estate’ thesis continues to proliferate among investor psyches, particularly (now) with J.C. … Read more

Family Dollar’s “Upside” Surprise Wasn’t Great

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Off-priced retailer Family Dollar (click ticker for report: ) reported stronger-than-anticipated third quarter results Wednesday morning, led by strong sales of consumables. Revenue at the discount chain increased 9% year-over-year to $2.6 billion, roughly in-line with consensus expectations. Earnings per share actually declined a penny to $1.05, but that figure was better than the consensus estimates which called for a steeper decline. Free cash flow stands at a negative $275 million year-to-date as the company invests heavily in expanding and renovating its store base. The company has engaged in numerous sale-leaseback transactions, so the increase in capital spending has not materially drained the firm’s coffers. Taking a closer look at the numbers, we can see that the quarter was not … Read more

Sales Surge at Family Dollar But Margins Miss the Mark

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Dollar store giant Family Dollar (click ticker for report: ) reported a mixed first quarter earlier this week. Revenue jumped 12.7% year-over-year to $2.4 billion, slightly above consensus expectations. However, earnings disappointed, increasing just a penny compared to a year ago, to $0.69 (which was well below consensus expectations). Driving sales traffic wasn’t an issue, as same-store sales jumped 6.6% year-over-year. However, the strength was driven by lower-margin consumables, which grew 18.5% from the same period a year ago. Cigarettes were specifically identified as pressuring margins, but management remains confident that selling cigarettes is an overall positive for the business. President and COO Michael Bloom specifically said on the conference call: “We don’t believe that cigarettes — the fact that … Read more

Dollar General Blames the Consumer for Weak Guidance

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Tuesday morning, value chain Dollar General (click ticker for report: ) reported stronger than expected results for its third quarter. Revenue rose 10% year-over-year to $4 billion, roughly in-line with consensus expectations. Earnings, adjusted for a one-time expense, jumped 26% year-over-year to $0.63 per share. During the third quarter, same-store sales grew 4% year-over-year, down compared to the second quarter, but still a fairly strong growth rate, in our view. The firm’s gross margin fell 10 basis points to 30.9%, though its operating margin increased 50 basis points to 9.1% due to strong cost containment. While the third quarter was relatively strong, management was cautious about the rest of the year. The company narrowed its earnings-per-share range to $2.82-$2.85 from … Read more

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Going forward, please use the ‘Symbol’ search box to download stock and dividend reports of companies you are interested in. The ‘Symbol’ search box can be found in our website header. Image shown from above. Use the active search box in the website header above. Learn more about your membership >>  Note: We have now discontinued this list. Please use the ‘Symbol’ search box in the website header for stock and dividend reports. Please read about our Valuentum Dividend Cushion score (ratio) here. Just having access to this valuable metric alone could save your income portfolio thousands of dollars! The past meets the future as we showcase the Valuentum Dividend Cushion scores of Dividend Aristocrats in this article (click here). The dividend reports below … Read more