Williams-Sonoma Q2 Profit Rises, Lifts FY Outlook

(RTTNews) - Williams-Sonoma Inc. (WSM) Wednesday reported an increase in profit for the second quarter, driven largely by a double-digit revenue growth, with both earnings and revenues coming in ahead of analysts' expectations.

Moving ahead, the home products retailer detailed an outlook for the third quarter, with earnings expected to fall short of Wall Street expectations, but revenues expected to beat estimates. Williams-Sonoma also lifted its full-year 2013 outlook, citing its year-to-date performance and confidence in the rest of the year.

Williams-Sonoma, the owner of the namesake, Pottery Barn and West Elm home-goods chains, said revenues for the three-month period grew 12.3 percent to $982.2 million from $874.3 million a year ago. Analysts estimated revenues of $939.99 million for the quarter.

The company's comparable brand revenue growth for the quarter increased 8.4 percent, with Potter Barn brand posting 9.9 percent growth. Pottery Barn Kids rose 8.2 percent, while West Elm was up 16.5, and PBteen climbed 16.3 percent.

"Our second quarter results demonstrate the strong demand for our brands and the profitability of our multi-channel, multi-brand platform," said Chief Executive Laura Alber. "We achieved sales and profit levels that exceeded our expectations while making investments in our growth objectives and in the infrastructure to support them."

San Francisco, California-based William-Sonoma's second-quarter profit improved $48.9 million or $0.49 per share from $43.4 million or $0.43 per share last year. On average, 27 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.47 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Looking forward to the third quarter, the company expects earnings in the range of $0.51 to $0.54 per share and revenues of $1.02 billion to $1.04 billion. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $0.55 per share on revenues of $1.01 billion for the quarter.

The company lifted its full year financial outlook, and now expect adjusted earnings of $2.69 to $2.79 per share and revenues of $4.26 billion to $4.34 billion. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $2.81 per share on revenues of $4.28 billion for the year.

Previously, Williams-Sonoma expected earnings of $2.67 to $2.77 per share and revenues of $4.22 billion to $4.30 billion for the year.

Alber concluded, "Longer term, we remain confident in our ability to continue to grow sales, maximize profitability and capture market share as we build on our successes across brands and geographies."

WSM is currently trading at $57.22, down $2.22 or 3.74%, on the NYSE.