Burlington Stores reports Q3 adjusted EPS $1.55, consensus $1.55

Reports Q3 revenue $2.53B, consensus $2.56B. CEO Michael O’Sullivan stated, “Our Q3 comp trend started out very strongly, but then warmer temperatures from mid-September onwards slowed our sales momentum. Cold Weather categories represent about 15% of sales in Q3. Excluding these categories, our comp growth in Q3 was 4%, which is consistent with the trend that we have seen in our business since March…We proactively controlled liquidity and receipts, especially of Cold Weather merchandise, and drove strong margin improvement and earnings growth in the third quarter, with an Adjusted EBIT Margin increase of 80 basis points, and Adjusted EPS growth of 41%. These increases were driven by higher Gross Margin and leverage on Supply Chain expenses. The agility with which we operated during the quarter has left us in a strong inventory position, which has us well poised for the holiday season. To this end, November is off to a good start, and we are optimistic about our prospects for Q4. But with the key selling weeks still ahead of us, we are planning our business cautiously and maintaining our comparable store sales guidance of 0% to 2% for the quarter. We are ready to chase if the trend is stronger.”