Stock Alert: Big Lots Stock Up 15% In Premarket On Stellar Q1 Results, Strong Q2 Outlook

(RTTNews) - Shares of Big Lots Inc. (BIG) are rising over 15% in pre-market today, after the company reported stellar Q1 results and issued strong Q2 earnings outlook. The stock has been trading in the range of $10.13 - $40.10 for the past one year, and closed Thursday's trade at $36.59, down $2.43 or 6.23%. BIG is currently trading at $42.11, up $5.52 or 15.09% in the pre-market session.

Q1 Results

The company's Q1 net income was $49.3 million or $1.26 per share compared to $15.5 million or $0.39 per share last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.32 per share and revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimate typically exclude certain special items.

Revenue for the quarter rose 10.8% to $1.44 billion from $1.30 billion generated a year ago.

The company ended the first quarter with $312 million of cash and cash equivalents and $437 million of long-term debt.

On May 28, 2020, the Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per common share. This dividend will be payable on June 26, 2020, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 12, 2020.

Q2 Guidance

The company projects second-quarter earnings per share to be in the range of $0.65 - $0.80. The outlook incorporates anticipated pre-tax expenses related to COVID-19 of about $18 million. The company noted that, for the second quarter to date, comparable sales are up strongly, reflecting a continuation of the acceleration in business that began in mid-April. The company expects comp trends to moderate over the balance of the quarter.