Williams-Sonoma, Inc. Accelerates Comps in a Strong Quarter

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) announced second-quarter 2017 results on Aug. 23 after the market closed, with the home-furnishings retailer highlighting solid comparable-brand revenue growth and reaffirming its full-year outlook.

Let's have a closer look at what Williams-Sonoma accomplished over the past few months, as well as what investors can expect from the company.

Williams-Sonoma results: The raw numbers

Metric

Q2 2017

Q2 2016

Year-Over-Year Change

Revenue

$1.202 billion

$1.159 billion

3.7%

GAAP net income

$52.9 million

$51.8 million

2.2%

GAAP earnings per diluted share

$0.61

$0.58

5.2%

What happened with Williams-Sonoma this quarter?

  • For perspective, Williams-Sonoma's guidance provided last quarter called for revenue in the range of $1.195 billion to $1.23 billion, and earnings per share in the range of $0.55 to $0.61.
  • Comparable-brand revenue climbed 2.8% -- a nice acceleration from 0.1% growth last quarter, and within WSM's guidance range of 2% to 5% -- including:
  • 1.2% growth at Pottery Barn.
  • 1.9% growth at Williams-Sonoma.
  • 10.1% growth at West Elm.
  • 0.2% growth at PBteen.
  • A 3.9% decline at Pottery Barn Kids.
  • E-commerce revenue rose 5.2% year over year to $631 million, while retail revenue rose 2.1% to $571 million.
  • The company repurchased 1,160,381 shares of common stock for $55 million during the quarter, at an average cost of $47.41 per share. That left $317 million remaining under Williams-Sonoma's current repurchase authorization.

What management had to say

Williams-Sonoma CEO Laura Alber added:

Looking forward

For the third quarter of 2017, Williams-Sonoma expects revenue in the range of $1.27 billion to $1.31 billion, once again assuming comparable-brand revenue growth of 2% to 5%. That should result in third-quarter earnings per diluted share of $0.80 to $0.87.

Finally, for the full fiscal year of 2017, Williams-Sonoma continues to expect revenue of $5.165 billion to $5.265 billion, comparable-brand revenue growth of 1% to 3%, and adjusted (non-GAAP) 2017 earnings of $3.45 to $3.65.

All things considered, this was another solid step in the right direction for Williams-Sonoma as it successfully navigates today's difficult retail environment.

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Steve Symington has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Williams-Sonoma. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.