Helen of Troy reports Q4 adjusted EPS $2.01, consensus $1.88

Reports Q4 revenue $484.6M, consensus $457.71M. Julien R. Mininberg, Chief Executive Officer, stated: "I am pleased to report that our fourth quarter financial performance, including our sales and adjusted EPS, was better than expected in what has been one of the most unpredictable and challenging years in memory. We expanded our adjusted operating margin and generated strong free cash flow. We used that cash flow and faster-than-expected progress on the inventory reduction initiative to accelerate our debt pay down in the quarter. Our ending inventory is now below fiscal year 2021 despite recent retailer inventory corrections and our Osprey and Curlsmith acquisitions. Operationally, we also made significant progress. We began shipping from our new state-of-the-art Tennessee distribution facility, which has already been instrumental in consolidating several ancillary facilities and is a key part of our multi-year plan to optimize our distribution footprint and efficiency. With Fiscal 2023 marking the fourth year of Phase II, our Core net sales grew at a 9.1% CAGR, well ahead of the target set at the Phase II starting point in fiscal year 2019, and Core adjusted EPS grew at a 6.8% CAGR despite the many challenges to profitability in our industry and the macro environment."