Ross Stores Announces First Quarter Financial Results
May 20, 2022 By MarketDepth
Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) has announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2022. The company reported earnings per share for the 13 weeks ended April 30, 2022 of $0.97 on net earnings of $338 million.
“We are disappointed with our lower-than-expected first quarter results. Following a stronger-than-planned start early in the period, sales underperformed over the balance of the quarter. We knew fiscal 2022 would be a difficult year to predict, especially the first half when we were facing last year’s record levels of government stimulus and significant customer pent-up demand as COVID restrictions eased. The external environment has also proven extremely challenging as the Russia-Ukraine conflict has exacerbated inflationary pressures on the consumer not seen in 40 years.”
Barbara Rentler, Chief Executive Officer
She continued, “First quarter operating margin of 10.8% was down from 14.2% in 2021, reflecting the deleveraging effect from the same store sales decline combined with ongoing headwinds from higher freight and wage costs that began rising in the second half of 2021.”
“Given our first quarter results and today’s increasingly uncertain macro-economic and geopolitical environment, we believe it is prudent to adopt a more conservative outlook for the balance of the year. We are now forecasting same store sales for the 13 weeks ending July 30, 2022 to decrease 4% to 6% on top of a very strong 15% gain in the prior year period, with earnings per share projected to be $0.99 to $1.07 versus $1.39 in last year’s second quarter.”
Barbara Rentler, Chief Executive Officer
She continued, “Although we continue to expect sales and profitability to improve as we move through the year, for the 52 weeks ending January 28, 2023, we now forecast comparable store sales to decline 2% to 4% versus a 13% gain in fiscal 2021. Earnings per share for fiscal 2022 are projected to be $4.34 to $4.58 compared to $4.87 in the prior year.”
“While the landscape in early 2022 has been tougher than expected and the year may prove to be more difficult than initially anticipated, we remain confident in our ability to successfully navigate through this period. We have shown in the past that our value-focused business model has served us well in both healthy and more uncertain external climates and believe the current challenging conditions will be no different.”
Barbara Rentler, Chief Executive Officer
