Shares of Williams-Sonoma Inc (NYSE: WSM) rallied in aftermarket hours on Tuesday, climbing 9%, as the upscale home product retailer posted better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings and raised the full-year outlook.
For the quarter, WSM’s earnings stood at $43.4 million, or 43 cents a share, up from $39.3 million or 37 cents a share, in the year earlier quarter.
Revenue leaped 7% to $874.3 million.
Sales from its e-commerce business climbed 13.9% to $361 million, for the quarter.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecasted earnings of 41 cents a share, on revenue of $864.4 million.
Same-store-sales rose 7.4% over the year-earlier quarter. While comparable sales at Pottery Barn stores climbed 11.7% for the quarter, West Elm Stores witnessed 15.6% growth in comparable sales.
Nevertheless, The Company’s namesake upscale kitchen equipment stores saw same-store-sales shrink by 0.4%, apart from William-Sonoma Home merchandise
The company sales products in 75 countries through its e-commerce platform, in addition it operates 576 stores in North America. Eyeing international expansion, the company now plans to open more stores in other regions of the world. For a start, Williams-Sonoma will open 4 outlets in Sydney, Australia by the end of fiscal 2013.
Commenting over Williams-Sonoma’s global forays, David Magee, Managing Director at Sun Trust Robinson Humphries said to Reuters that Company’s international expansion would see much faster organic growth in the future compared to what has been seen for last couple of years.
While addressing the conference call, the company also revealed that it will start selling Starbucks Corp’s premium single-cup coffee and espresso machine. According to the Williams-Sonoma it will be the first retailer to launch Starbuck’s coffee machine. Earlier during the year, Starbucks had said that it will soon start selling single-serve coffee machines, aimed at boosting its presence. At present, the single-serve coffee market is expanding at a brisk pace and is predominated by Nestle SA and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc.
Meanwhile, the company has also raised its outlook on fiscal 2012. For the year, WSM now expects to earn in the range of $2.44 to $2.52 a share, up from previous estimates of $2.42 to $2.49 a share.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are expecting full-year earnings at $ 2.50 a share.
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