Burlington Stores reports Q2 adjusted EPS 60c, consensus 43c

Reports Q2 revenue $2.17B, consensus $2.17B. Michael O’Sullivan, CEO, stated, “Our comparable store sales growth for Q2 was 4%, which was at the high end of our guidance range, while margin and earnings performance were significantly ahead of our guidance…Looking at the spring season as a whole, it is clear that the lower-income shopper, our core customer, is still under significant economic pressure. Based on the underlying year-to-date comp trend we are narrowing our full-year comparable store sales guidance to a range of 3% to 4% versus 2022. It is possible that the trend will strengthen in the back half of the year, and if it does, then we are confident that we can chase it. Compared to our peers, we have a huge opportunity to expand our store count. We also have potential to improve our sales productivity and individual store economics with our smaller store prototype. Over the past several months there has been an opening up in the supply of great real estate locations, driven by retail bankruptcies. We are very pleased that we have recently been able to acquire the leases to 62 former Bed Bath & Beyond stores. These locations together with the broader loosening of real estate supply should significantly strengthen our new store and relocation pipeline for 2024 and potentially beyond.”