Williams-Sonoma (NASDAQ: WSM) slumped Friday after the houseware retailer said it would not reiterate or update its outlook through fiscal 2024 due to economic uncertainty. Williams-Sonoma reported better-than-expected sales and profit for its latest quarter.
Said CEO Laura Albert, “We are proud of another strong quarter generating an 8.1% comp, or a 25% two-year comp and an almost 50% three-year comp, with record EPS growth of 12% over last year to $3.72 per share. These results reflect the continuation of backlog order fulfillment, strong product margins and disciplined cost control.”
Comparable brand revenue increased 8.1% with a two-year comp of 25.0% and a three-year comp of almost 50%.
Gross margin rate was 41.5% which was 220 bps below last year, driven by higher shipping and freight costs with merchandise margin flat to last year with occupancy deleverage of 30 bps. Occupancy costs increased 10.5% to $202 million.
SG&A rate was 26.0% leveraging 160bps on a GAAP basis and 150bps on a non-GAAP basis, reflecting employment and advertising leverage.
The company is reiterating its fiscal year 2022 guidance of mid-to-high single digit annual net revenue growth and operating margins relatively in-line with our fiscal year 2021 operating margin. “Given the macro uncertainty, we will not reiterate or update our guidance through fiscal year 2024,” according to this morning’s news release.
WSM shares swooned $13.19, or 10.1%, to $117.20.
