Burlington Stores Stock Surges 8% Premarket On Better-than-expected Earnings

Burlington Stores Inc. shares soared 8.3% in premarket trade Thursday, after the company blew through second-quarter estimates and raised its guidance for the full year. The discount store chain said it had net income of $46.9 million, or 66 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $20.4 million, or 28 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 72 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 51 cents. Sales rose 8.6% to $1.363 billion, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.349 billion. Same-store sales rose 3.5%, beating the FactSet consensus of 2.8%. "Our inventories are fresh, we are well positioned for Back to School, and we have significant open-to-buy entering the third quarter as opportunities remain plentiful," chief Executive Tom Kingsbury said in a statement. The company raised its full-year guidance and now expects same-store sales to climb 2% to 2.5% and adjusted EPS to range from $4.11 to $4.18, compared with a FactSet consensus of $3.98. It expects third-quarter EPS to range from 58 cents to 61 cents, compared with a FactSet consensus of 59 cents. Third-quarter same-store sales are expected to rise 2% to 3%. Shares had eked out a 0.2% gain in 2017 through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 9.2%.