Herman Miller Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR) reported a strong rise in its earnings for its fiscal first quarter. The company’s sales also exceeded analysts’ estimates.
The Zeeland, Mich-based company revealed Thursday net sales of $626.8 million, a 6.6% decline over the $670.9 million reported in the prior-year quarter.
Net earnings, however, proved a different story, ballooning to $73 million, from the $48.2-million reading in the prior-year, an increase of 51.5%.
"Our diversified business model," reads Thursday’s news release, "coupled with our ability to act quickly and decisively to manage the business drove strong operating performance for the quarter, once again proving our ability to deliver profitable results even in these difficult times.
"Our strong performance this quarter validates our strategy, as our multi-channel go-to-market approach enabled us to serve customers where, and how, they needed to be served. The investments we have made in people, technology, and products positioned us to capitalize on emerging opportunities as the needs of our customers quickly evolved due to the onset of the COVID-19 crisis."
Miller goes on to say its retail business led the way this quarter, with orders up an impressive 40% over last year. Demand was led by the Home Office category, which increased nearly 300% over last year.
"As a result of our strong operating performance," the release continues, "we delivered earnings per share of $1.24 on both a reported and adjusted basis for the quarter, which reflected a year-over-year increase of 53.1% on a reported basis and 47.6% on an adjusted basis."
HLMR shares opened trading Thursday up $6.16, or 23.8%, to $32.04.
