Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) noticed a bolt in its share prices Tuesday after posting a smaller-than-expected loss. Big Lots reported a net loss of $249.8 million, or $8.56 per share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2023. This result includes a net after-tax charge of $155.4 million, or $5.32 per share. Excluding this charge, the adjusted net loss in the second quarter of 2023 was $94.4 million, or $3.24 per share. The adjusted net loss for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 was $66.0 million, or $2.28 per share.
Net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2023 totaled $1.139 billion, a 15.4% decrease compared to $1.346 billion for the same period last year. The decline to last year was driven by a comparable sales decrease of 14.6%. A net decrease in store count, partially offset by new stores and relocations, contributed approximately 80 basis points of sales decline compared to the second quarter of 2022.
CEO Bruce Thorn stated, "Our results for Q2 illustrate that we remain in a very challenging environment, in which our core lower-income customer remains under significant pressure and has limited capacity for higher-ticket discretionary purchases. However, we did see some sequential improvement in the quarter, and were pleased to come in ahead of or in line with our guidance on all key metrics."
BIG shares popped $1.69, or 27%, to $7.96.
