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Five Below (FIVE) Posts Stellar Holiday Sales, Comps Jump 7.7%

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Five Below, Inc. (FIVE - Free Report) posted sturdy holiday sales results despite a challenging supply chain backdrop. The company efficiently managed the product flow and remained proactive in meeting consumer demand. An upbeat performance prompted management to guide sales, comps, and earnings per share near the high end of previously provided ranges.

Undoubtedly, the company’s focus on providing trend-right products, strengthening digital capabilities and delivering better WOW products bodes well. These factors combined with its pricing strategy enable it to cater to demographic shoppers and resonate with value-seeking customers.

A Closer Look at the Holiday Sales

Five Below highlighted that net sales for the Holiday Period — from Oct 31, 2021 through Jan 1, 2022 — surged 20.6% to $870.9 million from $722.3 million reported in the comparable nine-week period from Nov 1, 2020 through Jan 2, 2021. Markedly, comparable sales for the holiday shopping season rose 7.7% on top of a record 10.1% increase registered last year.

Management stated that performance was broad-based, with trend items like sensory and Squishmallows being significant contributors.

Joel Anderson, president and CEO, said, “Given this performance, we are pleased to move our guidance near the high end of our previously provided guidance ranges for sales, comps, and EPS, all of which contemplated the comparison against the stimulus-fueled January last year."

 

Zacks Investment ResearchImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

Guidance

Management expects fourth-quarter fiscal 2021 net sales between $985 million and $1,005 million. This suggests an improvement of 17.1% at the high end of the range. The company forecast comparable sales to be 2-4%.

For fiscal 2021, Five Below envisions net sales in the band of $2,837 million to $2,857 million. This indicates growth of 45.6% at the high end of the range. The company expects a 30% jump in comparable sales.

Coming to the bottom line, this extreme-value retailer for tweens, teens and beyond anticipates earnings in the range of $2.36 to $2.48 per share for the final quarter and between $4.82 and $4.94 per share for the fiscal year.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have declined 6.3% in the past year compared with the industry’s decline of 18.7%.

3 Stocks Looking Red Hot

Here are three better-ranked stocks — Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF - Free Report) , Citi Trends (CTRN - Free Report) and Capri Holdings (CPRI - Free Report) .

Abercrombie & Fitch, an omnichannel specialty retailer of apparel and accessories, flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). ANF has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 112.5%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Abercrombie & Fitch’s current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 21.2% and 758.9%, respectively, from the year-ago period.

Citi Trends, a specialty value retailer of apparel, accessories and home trends, sports a Zacks Rank #1. CTRN has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 79.5%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Citi Trends’ current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 29.6% and 199.2%, respectively, from the year-ago period.

Capri Holdings, a global fashion luxury group, carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The company’s bottom line has outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a wide margin in the trailing four quarters.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Capri Holdings’ current financial year sales and EPS suggests growth of 33.2% and 181.1%, respectively, from the year-ago period. CPRI has an expected EPS growth rate of 32.2% for three-five years.

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