Williams-Sonoma shares rise as stay-at-home trends fuel better-than-expected sales

Williams-Sonoma posted fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday that beat analysts’ expectations as consumers continued to shop for furniture and cookware as they spent more time at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

The company’s stock rose more than 11% in extended trading, as the company expects its growth to continue in the year ahead.

Here’s what the company reported for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with what Wall Street analysts expected, using a survey from Refinitiv: 

• Earnings per share: $3.95 adjusted vs. $3.39 expected 
• Revenue: $2.29 billion vs. $2.18 billion expected 

“In Q4, despite shipping constraints and low retail traffic, we delivered another quarter of accelerating revenue and profitability with 26% comp growth and over 85% EPS growth,” said Laura Alber, president and CEO of Williams-Sonoma, in a press release.

Net income rose to $309 million, or $3.92 per share, from $166 million, or $2.10 per share, a year earlier. 

Excluding items, Williams-Sonoma earned $3.95 per share, topping the $3.39 per share expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. 

Revenue rose 24% to $2.29 billion from $1.84 billion a year ago, beating expectations of $2.18 billion.

Growth was boosted by a 47.9% jump in e-commerce revenue, with about 70% of its total revenue coming from its e-commerce business.

Same-store sales for the entire company were up 25.7% in the latest quarter, with all of its brands seeing double-digit gains.

Its namesake brand, Williams-Sonoma, reported same-store sales rose 26.2%. Both Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids and Teen reported a 25.7% gain in same-store sales. West Elm was closely behind with a 25.2% same-store sales increase.

For fiscal year 2021, the retailer expects retail traffic to recover and inventory levels to improve.

The company said it expects its performance to be in line with its long-term financial targets, which call for mid-to-high single-digit revenue growth.

Although the company’s business has been helped as consumers ate more meals at home and looked to decorate their homes during the health crisis, Alber expects its business will continue to get a boost from favorable macro trends that will support its business for the long-term. Among the factors she cited were high consumer confidence, a strong housing market, a shift to e-commerce and expectations that people will continue to spend more time working from home in the future.

Williams-Sonoma said it will boost its dividend by 11.3% to 59 cents a share. Meanwhile, its board approved plans to buy back $1 billion in stock. The new repurchase plan replaces its prior authorization and will go into effect on March 17.

Read the full earnings release here.