Boot Barn Expects Sales Gains in Q3 But December’s Winter Storms Impacts ‘Highest Volume Days’
Boot Barn said on Friday it expects to report a net sales increase in the third quarter of fiscal 2023 despite late December winter storms impacting its “highest volume days.”
In a preliminary earnings press release ahead of the Irvine, Calif.-based footwear company’s appearance at the ICR Conference on Monday, Boot Barn said it expects to report net sales of approximately $514.6 million in the third quarter, an increase of 5.9% from the same time last year.
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The company added that it also expects to report that same store sales declined approximately 3.6%, with retail store same store sales declining approximately 0.8% and e-commerce same store sales falling approximately 15.2% in the period.
President and CEO Jim Conroy said in a statement on Friday that he is “proud” of his team, which delivered total sales at the high end of the company’s guidance, “despite late December storms that negatively impacted sales during the highest volume days of the quarter.”
Conroy also said Boot Barn’s new store sales continued to over-perform its expectations adding that the company opened 12 new stores in the third quarter, or 33 stores year-to-date, bringing its total store count to 333.
Although Friday’s statement was mostly good news, the executive did note that merchandise margin declined 190 basis points compared to the prior-year period, driven primarily by headwinds from higher freight costs. Further, net income for the quarter decreased in Q3, which is expected to be $1.74 per diluted share, compared to $2.27 in the prior-year period.
Looking ahead, Conroy said that his team “feels great” about the new store pipeline, its current inventory levels, and the overall tone of the business. “With store productivity levels continuing to far exceed pre-pandemic levels, combined with the significant opportunity to increase our current store footprint, we believe the future growth prospects for Boot Barn are extremely bright,” the CEO said.
The company plans to report third quarter results later this month, at which time it will also provide fourth quarter guidance.
In its most recent October earnings report, Boot Barn reported a solid second quarter driven by new store expansion and positive retail store same store sales growth. In the second quarter of 2023, the footwear company saw net sales of $351.5 million, an increase of 12.4% over the prior year period, beating the street’s expectations of $343 million in the quarter.
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