Burlington Stores reports Q1 adjusted EPS $1.42, consensus $1.04

Reports Q1 revenue $2.36B, consensus $2.34B. Reports Q1 SSS up 2%. Michael O’Sullivan, CEO, stated, “We are very pleased with how our sales trends developed in the first quarter. The quarter got off to a slow start in February, likely due to disruptive weather and delayed tax refunds, but then our sales trend picked up. Comparable store sales increased 4% during the months of March and April combined. This resulted in a 2% comparable store sales increase for the quarter which was at the high end of our guidance range.” O’Sullivan continued, “We were especially pleased with our margin improvement and earnings growth during the first quarter. Our Adjusted EBIT Margin and Adjusted EPS increased 170 basis points and 68%, respectively. While 40 basis points of that Adjusted EBIT Margin improvement, or 10 cents in Adjusted EPS, was driven by expense timing, we nevertheless achieved substantial ahead-of-guidance margin improvement and earnings growth. This out-performance was driven by a significant increase in gross margin as well as strong leverage in supply chain expenses.” O’Sullivan concluded, “Looking to the balance of 2024, we remain confident in the outlook for our business. Based on our first quarter performance, we are increasing our margin and earnings guidance for the year. Nevertheless, there continues to be a lot of uncertainty in the external environment. It makes sense to be cautious, so we are maintaining our comparable stores sales guidance of 0% to 2% growth. We are ready to chase if the underlying sales trend is stronger.”