Shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) jumped on Thursday after the retailer reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that easily beat analysts' expectations.
Adjusted earnings were 67 cents per share vs. 58 cents forecast by Thomson Reuters. Revenue came in at $1.20 billion vs. $1.16 billion forecast.
Same-store sales were up 5.5% for the quarter, while merchandise inventories at the end of the quarter increased 1.5% to $1.053 billion.
CEO Laura Alper commented, "Following a robust fourth quarter, we saw continued strength in the first quarter. We achieved strong results against our guidance range across all metrics, with our e-commerce revenues outpacing to almost 54% of our total revenues. Our customer growth continued to trend positively for both new and existing customers, demonstrating the success of our balanced customer acquisition strategy."
Alber continued, "These results speak to the power of our established multi-channel model, distinctive brand portfolio and world-class customer service heritage – all of which are our company’s competitive strengths. Based on this strong start to the year, we are raising our full year guidance for net revenues by $20 million and for EPS by $0.03."
Williams-Sonoma boosted the range of its full-year forecast to $4.15 to $4.25 a share on expected revenue of $5.495 billion to $5.655 billion. Analysts expected full-year earnings of $4.18 on revenue of $5.57 billion.
The retailer also gave strong revenue guidance for the second quarter, saying it now expects revenue of $1.25 billion to $1.275 billion, compared with expectations of $1.24 billion.
Shares in WSM ballooned $5.42, or 11%, to $54.60
