Boot Barn reports preliminary Q3 EPS $1.74, consensus $1.78

Reports preliminary Q3 revenue $514.6M, consensus $509.79M. Reports same store sales declined approximately 3.6%. Jim Conroy, President and CEO, commented: "I am extremely proud of the entire Boot Barn team for their tremendous execution as we delivered total sales at the high end of our guidance, despite late December storms that negatively impacted sales during the highest volume days of the quarter. New store sales continued to overperform our expectations and we were able to deliver retail store same store sales that were roughly flat as we cycled an incredible 55.7% retail comp growth in the same period last year. Once again, we were able to maintain our predominantly full-price selling environment in what seemed to be a highly promotional holiday period across retail. Normalizing for expected freight headwinds, we were able to achieve a merchandise margin rate nearly in line with last year’s record-setting performance. As we enter 2023, we feel great about the new store pipeline, our current inventory levels, and the overall tone of the business. With store productivity levels continuing to far exceed pre-pandemic levels, combined with the significant opportunity to increase our current store footprint, we believe the future growth prospects for Boot Barn are extremely bright. The foregoing expected results are preliminary and remain subject to the completion of normal quarter end accounting procedures and closing adjustments. The Company currently plans to report third quarter results in late January 2023, at which time it will also provide fourth quarter guidance."