Business
Five Below, Inc. Announces Holiday Sales Results for Quarter-To-Date Through January 4, 2020
Net Sales Increased 13.4%Updates Guidance for the Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2019Announces 180 Planned New Stores or 20% Unit Growth for Fiscal 2020
About this update from Five Below, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Net Sales Increased 13.4%Updates Guidance for the Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2019Announces 180 Planned New Stores or 20% Unit Growth for Fiscal 2020\n PHILADELPHIA, PA, Jan. 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE) (“Five Below” or the “Company”) today announced net sales results for the quarter-to-date period from November 3, 2019 through January 4, 2020 (\"Holiday Period\"). The Company announced that net sales for the Holiday Period increased by 13.4% to $596.6 million from $526.1 million in the comparable nine-week period from November 4, 2018 to January 5, 2019. Comparable sales for the Holiday Period decreased by 2.6%. Joel Anderson, President and CEO of Five Below, stated, “While our comparable sales during key holiday selling periods were positive, they were not strong enough to overcome the headwind of six fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and overall sales did not meet our expectations. Despite the sales shortfall, strong inventory management and disciplined cost control has us on track to end the quarter with gross margin in line with our expectations and to deliver earnings per share near the low end of our previous guidance range.” Mr. Anderson continued, “Looking ahead, we are pleased to announce 180 planned new stores for 2020. As we continue to innovate, we will incorporate a Ten Below zone in the majority of these new stores as well as our remodels. We are also excited to announce the acquisition of a robust e-commerce platform, fulfillment operation and certain other assets of Hollar.com, which will expand our digital capabilities.” Based on this quarter-to-date performance, the Company updated its guidance for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2019 below. The updated fourth quarter and full year guidance includes a combined two-cent impact from the Nerd Street Gamers and Hollar.com investments. As previously discussed, the full year guidance includes an approximate $0.13 benefit from share-based accounting reported through the third quarter. It does not include any future impact from share-based accounting or share repurchases. Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2019 Guidance Net sales of $685 million to $688 millionComparable sales decrease of 2.0% to 2.5%Diluted income per common share of $1.93 to $1.96 on approximately 56.1 million estimated diluted weighted average shares outst...