Staples Quarterly Earnings Meet Expectations, But Sales Miss Wall Street's Target

Staples Inc. [s:spls] on Thursday posted quarterly earnings that met expectations but revenue fell short of Wall Street's target. The office- supplies retailer said third-quarter earnings were $179 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with $198 million, or 31 cents a share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings came in at 34 cents a share. Revenue was $5.36 billion, down from $5.59 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 34 cents, on sales of $5.40 billion. Staples forecast fourth-quarter sales to decline from the year-earlier period. Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings are projected to come in between 23 cents to 26 cents a share and analysts are looking for 26 cents share.